Just Twenty Centimeters Away
by MayuJun
Summary: -DxD,SxK- A "first day of school" ends with drunken students passed out on the floor, a teacher who just doesn't stop screaming, and a new perverted student who won't leave Daisuke alone. But trouble seems to love Daisuke, as it follows him home.
1. First Day of School

**Just 20 Centimeters Away  
Warning:**Contents contain yaoi(boyxboy) aka shounen-ai, cursing, drama, and romance. If you don't like yaoi, then leave before reading another sentence! You have been warned...**  
Summary:** -DarkxDai, SatoxKrad- A "first day of school" ends with drunken students passed out on the floor, an teacher who just doesn't stop screaming, and a new perverted student who won't leave Daisuke alone. But trouble seemed to love Daisuke, as it follows him home.**  
Disclaimer:** Krad., Daisuke, Dark, and Satoshi all belong to Yukiru Sugisaki. I only own my plots.. if nothing else.

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**Chapter One: First Day of School**

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**It was a bright sunny summer day. Birds sang happily as they flew over treetops and flowers were in full bloom, color exploding across the field. Butterflies gracefully jumped from vivid patterns of rainbows, sucking in nectar and spreading a warm glow in the sky. The air smelled sweet and wonderfully calm. All this would disappear by noon. By far, it would make the most beautiful painting ever created.

Daisuke Niwa never hated the first day of school more in his entire life. Looking out the window longingly, he failed to notice the blur of black and grey attack him.

"Gyahh! Saehara!" the red-head shrieked, pin wheeling his arms as he flew in the air. Girls giggled as he landed painfully onto the floor, with Takeshi on top.

A pale arm reached over, grabbed Takeshi's collar, and threw the hyper teen off of the unfortunate red-head. Daisuke felt himself being pulled to his feet and wobbled slightly as he regained balance. Already, forgetting his anger at Saehara, Daisuke turned around and smiled cheerfully, "Thanks Hiwatari-kun!"

Satoshi blinked as the brightness of the smile reflected off his glasses. Three months of summer had not changed the optimistic red-head at all. Daisuke's smile could always shine no matter what.

The girls who had laughed at Daisuke's situation were now gawking at the blue-haired youth in awe and started whispering excitedly. Apparently fan girls, they blushed as Satoshi looked their way with mild irritation.

Meanwhile, Takeshi got up and patted the dust off his originally black uniform. A mischievous glint shone in his eyes as he advanced toward Daisuke.

Before Takeshi was even a foot near the red-head, a cold hand had gripped his shoulder with unbelievable strength as blue eyes seemed to pierce through the junior reporter. The look on Satoshi's face clearly displayed the message '_mess-with-daisuke-and-I'll-kick-you-in-the-balls-so-hard-they-will-retract-into-your-body_.'

A small whimpering sound escaped from Takeshi's throat as he backed away from the two boys, both hands clutching his family jewels. Daisuke, who had been day-dreaming decided to suddenly cut in, "Saehara-kun. Is something wrong with your er-.. little Saehara?" His voice was laced with deep concern.

Satoshi's cold glare seemed to press daggers into the reporter. Takeshi turned and gave the two a fleeting look before sprinting out of the room.

Daisuke stared at the door where the frightened youth had exited the room.

"Hiwatari-kun, do you know why Saehara was so uhm…."

Satoshi glanced at those wide crimson eyes and innocent look.

"No Niwa-san. I don't particularly know why he was in a hurry to go to the bathroom. Can you think of any reasons?" he asked, amusement playing in his words.

Ruby eyes widened considerably as Daisuke whispered his answer, "Do.. do you think he was.. turned on? Oh god. B-by what? And so early in the morning too!"

Before Satoshi could respond, the bell rang and the tall, ugly balding woman walked into the room.

"GET IN YOUR SEATS YOU IDIOTS!" she screamed. The whole class (excluding Satoshi who was always calm and Takeshi who absent from the class) jumped in surprise and scrambled to the closet seat they could find.

Daisuke found himself in what he thought was _the perfect seat_. Located on the left side of the class and in the back row, it was only inches away from the window. But the best part was that there was a cover-less hole in the desk's side that was large enough to fit a couple of textbooks, yet small enough to remain hidden.

A fake look of boredom covered his face as he deviously pulled a sketchbook from his backpack. Inside, however, he was singing in joy. Finally! A way to make school go so much faster!

"THE NAMES GINKO! AND GUESS WHAT?! YOU STUPID KIDS CAN BE HEARD FROM TEN FEET AWAY!! COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!" screamed the old lady.

Risa somehow managed to leap ten inches off her chair. However, she wasn't the only thing that jumped. Apparently, she had been passing notes to Mio Hio and watched in horror as the piece of paper slowly fluttered into the aisle. A fact that wasn't missed by teacher's sharp eyes.

"Well, well, WELL!"

The class jumped again.

"What do WE have HERE Miss…"

Risa sniffled, "Harada Risa."

"MISS HARADA! PASSING NOTES IN CLASS??"

The whole class watched sympathetically as tears welled up in the brown eyes .

"Y-yes ma'am!" she stuttered, trying hard not to cry.

"My job is to teach and encourage discussion. In fact, let's start DISCUSSING YOUR NOTE WITH THE WHOLE CLASS!!"

A wicked smile ravaged the lady's already horrible face.

Risa's heart raced as the teacher bent down to pick up the note on the ground.

_Oh god oh god oh god. Please.. someone… help me!_

BAM!

Eyes tore away from the teacher to look the poor sucker who had arrived to class late. Rather than looks of pity, jaws dropped at the new student. For a good reason too.

It was a teenager and the word handsome wasn't even close to describing him. Tall and lean, the boy flicked the bangs of his perfectly styled midnight hair so the class could get a better view of him. Violet eyes glittered mischievously as a smirk graced the face of perfection. A lollipop stick dangled from in between two full lips that screamed "_lollipops aren't the only thing I suck." _And instead of wearing the customary plain black uniform, a loose sleeve-less black blazer hung loosely on his chest, showing off his six-pack. Pheromones seem to cling to the boy like glue on paper, an intoxicating scent of vanilla and cinnamon filling the air.

Meanwhile, Daisuke was taking his time re-drawing the scenic view until it met his qualifications. He had paid absolutely no attention to the note drama and wasn't about to look up from his work over a new student.

Unlike the art absorbed red-head, the rest of the class was in a wave of emotions. Girls gasped, completely love-struck while some guys stared at the bulge that was clearly visible from the skin-tight leather pants. Even Satoshi seemed to be a little off from the appearance of stunningly attractive teen.

Ms. Ginko turned around to face the unwelcome visitor, ready to scream until her voice would grow hoarse. However, like the many girls in the class, she was completely shocked and a glazed look overcame the angry expression. Her mouth dropped open and seemed to open and close like a fish trying to suck in oxygen.

"W-what's y-yo-ur n-name?" she finally was able to ask, though clearly unnerved.

The boy's smirk seemed to grow even bigger if possible and he answered in an unnecessary (yet so wonderful xD) seductive voice, "Dark."

Ms. Ginko smiled as if she had just won the lottery, though it was rather disgusting to see since she had not bothered to brush her teeth for the last ten years.

Dark ignored the horrid smile and brushed a smooth, elegant hand through the lustrous strands of his hair.

"So…" he began smoothly. "Where's my seat?"

The teacher stared at Dark for a few seconds before quickly responding, "Choose whichever one you'd like."

Dark flashed a money-maker smile as he strutted to an empty chair that was directly in the middle of the classroom. As he passed by Risa whose tears had paused half-way on her cheeks, he swiftly pulled the dark purple lollipop from mouth and stuck it in hers.

Surprised, Risa gave a soft eep. Her brown eyes were on Dark, asking why.

"Girls should never cry," Dark stated simply. He swung a muscular leg over desk and landed gracefully on the chair.

The teacher seemed to drop her personality all together and for the rest of the day, was nice and spoke in a stuttering voice while never keeping her hungry eyes off of Dark.

-- Lunch --

Satoshi almost groaned in annoyance as he sent a withering glare at Dark. Or more correctly, the back of Dark's head. Not only did the annoying playboy sit directly in front of him, but his table had suddenly become surrounded by hordes and hordes of girls, most of which were trying to flirt.

"_Heeyy_. You lookin' fine there boy."

"Oh. My. Gosh. Is THAT a cute shirt or what?!"

"Oh Dark! You're soo funny!! KYA!! –lets out super high pitched fan girl scream-"

"Do you like my hair??"

"_DARK! YOU ARE TOOOTALLLY AWESSOMEE!!"_

Giggles exploded as Dark told a joke that Satoshi found extremely stupid and lame. For a minute, he closed his eyes hard, trying to stay calm and not blow up. A rather violent bout of laughter shocked Satoshi into accidentally dropped his bread on the floor. That's when he lost his cool.

"Yep, that guy was an idiot. Trying t--" Dark said earnestly before he was interrupted.

"Takes one to know one."

The words had left Satoshi's mouth before he could stop them. Normally, Satoshi was careful to conceal any trace of emotions. A habit brought from being forced to attend his father's wretched dinner parties, it scared off anyone who attempted to start a conversation. However, with Dark, Satoshi just wanted to rip those long mauve tresses of hair out of that conceited idiot's head and shove them down those godly lips.

Dark turned around to give Satoshi a foul look before waving the insult away. Despite his expression of "_yeah, sure, whatever,"_ Dark felt anger build up inside him.

No one ever insulted Dark.

At least, no one ever insulted Dark and got away with it.

Even as he chatted with the crowd of girls and made them indefinitely fall for him, he kept a wary eye on the blunette.

The silvery-blue haired bastard wore an expressionless mask that Dark knew he would never be able to break. But for some reason, he seemed unusually close with the wimpy looking boy with red-hair. Heck, they even had pushed two desks together and were currently eating lunch.

Amthyest-colored eyes narrowed at the two. He couldn't see what the red-haired kid was doing under the desk and didn't really care. But he seemed to be friends with annoying cold jerk.

That was when Dark decided that the two would suffer.

Suffer and burn.

-- Afternoon Class --

Dark raised a thin eyebrow. Curiosity made him continuously look at the red-haired boy from the corner of his eyes. Throughout the entire day, red-haired boy had been doing something mysterious in the cubby of his desk. What could possibly interest the kid so much that he could tune out everything?

"Class, I'll be needing half of you to follow me to the office. Eye-tests are now in order!"

Rather than complain about how stupid and such a waste of time these tests were, the class kept quiet. They still hadn't forgotten about the teacher's little outburst earlier and merely sighed.

The teacher began randomly choosing students to get behind her, Satoshi being one of them, and sent a revolting sick puppy love look at Dark before exiting the room.

As soon as Ms. Ginko was well out of sight, Dark gave a loud obnoxious sigh of relief.

"Thank KAMI. That damned Ginko bitch is finally gone!" he shouted.

The class cheered along with him and Takeshi, who had returned the minute Satoshi left, was now whipping cans of beer at people.

"H-how the hell did you bring BEER to school??" Riku asked, staring incredulously at him.

Takeshi winked and began one of his infamous _"life-changing speeches"_ that left the majority of his audience reaching for a razor blade.

"_Dear Elder Harada sister, I, Takeshi Saehara am the freakin' genius of gods. I RULE this domain. If there's a rule, I'll break it. An unopened beer, consider it drunken. A hot babe, taken. A virgin, FUCKED. Remember this, I'm Ta--"_

The speech came to a sudden end as Takeshi was claimed by cold darkness. A dirty footprint decorated the clothing above Saehara's stomach.

The class broke into applause, girls and boys both applauding Dark's action. Cracks rang out in the classroom as they opened the beer cans in honor of Dark's achievement.

Within five minutes, almost everyone was completely wasted.

Dark, being a very experienced drinker, wasn't drunk at all. Curiosity made him walk over to the said red-head and Dark couldn't help but gasp.

The red-headed boy had been drawing this entire time. He had drawn this morning's heavenly scenery and it was just too beautiful for words. Details simply flooded the page. The butterflies didn't just stand in a motion-less world. Somehow, they were drawn so accurately that Dark could see them flying off the page and into open space.

The drawing must've been taken hours and hours of intense concentration and hard work.

Dark grinned evilly.

_Perfect_, he thought, and squeezed his beer can over the boy.

--

Daisuke had been working on the last few bits of the scenery until something foul smelling suddenly burst over him. From the acrid smell, he knew it was alcohol. It completely drenched his hair, originally white shirt, and pants, giving the impression that Daisuke was a rather messy eater. But his reaction to the sudden wetness on him was _nothing_ compared to when he saw his drawing.

Puddles of auburn liquid was seeping into the sketchbook, turning white pages a chocolate color. Dexterious hands quickly flipped to the page of his most recent artwork, only to find a smushed pile of soggyness.

A weird, creepy silence filled the room except for the dripping of beer and the snoring of passed out students.

"GAHHHHH!!"

Daisuke kicked the desk down, hyperventilating so hard that he was just about ready to faint. He positively glowered, ruby eyes now dark with fury.

"You.. YOU JERK! WHOEVER THE HELL YOU ARE, FUCK OFF AND DIE!"

Dark nearly flinched. Who knew that such an innocent looking boy could spew such vulgar words. Dark almost felt guilty for ruining the boy's picture.

But then again, the kid deserved it for being friends with the azure haired loser.

Daisuke seethed angrily, "Fucking moron."

Dark felt his eyelid twitch. Whoever taught this kid manners obviously forgot to include the most important rule. And that was don't swear at other people. Even he did have beer all over his desk and clothes.

"Whoever the hell you are, sod off and die."

Since the piss-the-kid off approach wasn't working that well, Dark decided to go with his second favorite method.

"How about I fuck you instead?"

Daisuke stared at the tall, proud teen and felt a deep blush rise to his cheeks.

"W-wha..?"

A perfectly portrayed evil smirk stretched Dark's face.

"I said. How. About. I. Fuck. You. Instead?"

Daisuke backed away without thinking and tripped, flying as his desk was knocked over. Papers fluttered in the air before landing in the puddle.

Dark chuckled. A simple (but not innocent, DEFINITELY not innocent) six letter sentence could make the red-head boy blush so easily.

"By the way, my names not fucking moron." Daisuke winced at the last two words.

"The name's Dark. Dark Mousy."

Red eyes widened in amusement and snorted (Daisuke snorted, not his eyes).

"That's a stupid name."

"IS NOT!"

The argument continued for a while until Daisuke finally gave up in exasperation.

"Aren't you suppose to be flirting with girls or something?" he grumbled.

Dark raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, I'm bi-sexual. So I can flirt with boys too."

Daisuke dropped his mouth and let it hang there for a couple of seconds before quickly closing it. Not knowing what to say, he just sighed and tried to clean the puddle.

"Soooo," said Dark, trying to break the silence. "Aren't you gonna tell me your name?"

Crimson eyes met glittering lilac ones in bewilderment.

"No, I'm not going t-"

"NIWAAA!!"

Satoshi ran into the room and skidded on the wet floor. Rather than crash into the wall, he used his intellect (Takeshi's heavily bruised body) and momentum to stop.

"Daisuke. –pant- Are –pant- you –pant- okay??" asked Satoshi through heavy pants. He had just run half a mile in two minutes after realizing Dark might target Daisuke because of their friendship.

Dark, who had been anxiously waiting for Satoshi, took advantage of the moment and wrapped a slender arm around the blushing boy's waist.

"Oh yes creepy boy. We're getting along, riight _Dai-chan_?" he said, heavily emphasizing the last word.

"Don't call me DAI-CHAN!"

Somehow, Dark managed to avoid looking at the death-glare sent by Daisuke. Instead, he decided to savor Satoshi's reaction.

However, Satoshi's reaction was far from anger, or even hate. Rather, it was… amusement?

"I see. Dark, Daisuke. I hope you two get along very well," he said, a half-smile gracing his lips.

Inside Satoshi's mind, he was cracking up. Dark had made a very bad decision trying to behind the young artist. He couldn't resist teasing the playboy.

_Dark, you stupid fool,_ he thought. _Just wait until you really know Daisuke._

A shriek interrupted Satoshi's thoughts. Ms. Ginko was back along with rest of the class and she was pissed.

"DAMMIT! HAVEN'T YOU PEOPLE EVER HEARD OF THE UNDER 21 LAW??"

The teacher continued her rampage and rants. This time, not even Dark couldn't make her settle down.

Takeshi ended up being suspended for three days, (two of which he spent healing in a hospital bed) while the class was forced to spend three hours in detention.

Daisuke instantly paled. He faintly recalled his mother's words before leaving the house that morning.

"Daiisuke!! Remember to come home at 6:11 PM!" she had shouted. Then she picked up a kitchen knife and waved it threateningly at her son. "Any later and you know what happens!!"

The red-head shuddered. Ordinary parents just grounded their kids for a week. But his mom was DEFINITELY not ordinary in the slightest way. The last time he had been one minute late, he had to wear a very fluffy, low-cut dress and forced into _revealing_ positions as his mom took enough pictures to fill three photo-albums. One of those pictures had somehow found their way into a student's hand and by the next day, they were all over campus. Only someone had managed to enlarge it to the size of a poster. If that wasn't bad enough, a few guys had come up and tried to rape the poor boy. It was a good thing he had transferred schools the next week. Otherwise…

Daisuke gulped nervously. It would wake half an hour to walk home and detention ended at six. He would have to sprint all the way.

-- End of Detention --

"Class, you may leave now. For homework, you have three pages of notes to take on why YOU feel sorry for what you have done."

Daisuke sighed in relief. Luckily, Ms. Ginko had given up on three hours of detention. Instead, he only had to spend two hours in class, reading the book, _Lord of the Flies._

He zipped up his backpack and ran outside. For ten minutes, he enjoyed the fresh air and orange, sunset sky.

A hot heavy breath hit Daisuke's neck, sending shivers down his back. Instantly, he spun around, ready to punish the molester. Instead of a creepy old man with a perverted look in his eyes, he found a familiar face……with a perverted look that rivaled Daisuke's initial image.

"DARK!" he screamed, both relieved and surprised. Wait.. relieved? No. That couldn't be true. He hated the flirtatious freak almost as much as he hated his mom's punishments.

Dark grinned sheepishly, "Hey. Thought it was you. Your red hair's pretty noticeable you know?"

Daisuke frowned.

"Okay, okay. I get enough of that at school. But why are you following me home, you molester/stalker!"

Amethyst eyes widened at the word stalker.

"Dai-chan! I'm no stalker. This is my way home too you know?"

Daisuke noticed how Dark didn't bother defending himself against the word molester, sniffed coldly, and turned around without another glance at the purple-haired teen.

Another ten minutes later found Daisuke walking expertly through a maze of houses, Dark still hot on his trail. At last, the tension was too much for the red-head to bear and he turned around, anger flashing in his eyes.

"GO AWAY!" he screeched, an octave higher than his regular voice.

Dark smirked.

"My, my Dai-chan. You shouldn't yell. It'll make your pretty face wrinkle! Maybe," he said, a smirk covering his face as he trailed off.

Daisuke didn't like that smirk at all. Still, he wanted to know what Dark had been thinking.

"Maybe what?" he asked against the sanity of his mind.

"_Maybe_ you'd like to rest in my arms?"

Daisuke shrieked so loud that a window cracked. Then he took off, running at lightning speed.

Dark smiled wryly as the red-head ran off, admiring the view he had of the redhead's backside.

--

"OKA-SAN! I'M HOME!"

As he stepped into his house, the redhead felt something squishy against black and white.

"Arggh!"

"DAIIISUKE!! KAWAII DES!!" a inhumanely loud pitched voice squealed.

"To..wa… chan. Please! I'm choking here."

After ten more seconds, Daisuke was released from the ultru-super-death-hug. He sucked in a deep breath, trying to regain all the oxygen he had lost.

Towa-chan smiled as she smoothened out the wrinkles on her gothic lolita. Her best friend's son was so cute, she couldn't help giving him hugs. Plus, she enjoyed making him wear super revealing clothes.

Daisuke frowned for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"Where Oka-san?" he asked.

His grandfather, Daichi, looked up from the newspapers and answered, "Your mom left a note on your table," before he continued reading.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow before walking up the hardwood stairs to his favorite place in the world.

His room.

Indeed, his room was a spectacular place. Covering the entire upstairs, Daisuke had a rare privacy from his intruding mom. He even had a bathroom connected to his room, giving his mom no chance of barging in with some special outfits she picked for him. Exquisite drawings covered the white walls of his room, only ending near his bunk bed. In a corner was a desk which was perfect for doing his homework on. A blank canvas lay against the floor, ready to be painted on. If there was anything he wanted to complain about, it would have to be the window.

Technically, the window wasn't a problem. There were no leaks, it never opened by itself, and it was always clean. The problem was, the window was directly in front of the window of another house. In fact, the distance between them was only twenty centimeters. A curtain was always over it, in case the neighbor might attack him in the middle of the night for some twisted unknown reason. Luckily, there was no one currently living in the house next to his, but Daisuke still wanted to keep the curtain there.

The redhead dropped his backpack by the desk and looked at the note left by his mom. Hoping she was going to be gone for a few days, he crossed his fingers and began to read.

**"_DAISUKE! How's my cute son doing? Normally, I'd ask that but today isn't about you. Today, it's about our new neighbor! YES neighbor. Someone finally is living in the house next to us!! Isn't that exciting??_**

_**Well, moving on, I'm there right now, getting to know whoever he/she is. Daisuke, be a dear and bring the fruitcake in the fridge over at 7 okay? **_

_**Or else!**_

_**LOVE,  
Emiko!!"**_

Daisuke crumpled up the letter and threw it over his shoulder into the trashcan. He looked at the digital clock on the desk and sighed.

6:55

Time to go visit the new neighbor.

--

Daisuke looked at the door anxiously. What if the new neighbor was some old perverted man who would try to rape Daisuke in his sleep? Or even worse… A twin of Takeshi!

He gulped down his fears and pushed open the door. Maybe it would be someone nice and friendly. Someone like Hiwatari.

Confidence slowly filled the boy as he walked down the dark hall toward the light and laughter in the living room.

_Yeah_, he thought happily. _A new friend!_

Daisuke walked into the room, temporarily blinded by the bright light.

"DAISUKE! You just HAVE to meet this fine young man. He's so very elegant and handsome!!"

That was his mom. There was no mistaking the hyperactivity of his mom's voice.

Slowly, his claret eyes adjusted to the lighting saw not one, but two familiar figures.

Daisuke dropped the fruitcake in shock.

That hair….the every present smirk..

He backed against the wall in fear.

Could it be??

"Dai-chan!"

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**Mayu:** Oh my! A neighbor with a window twenty centimeters from Daisuke's room. I wonder who this could possibly be. Don't worry my fellow fanfictioners. This is only the beginning. Review! If you don't... I'll set Dark on you! ... Well maybe not. You might actually lik- scratch that. You DEFINITELY would like that. How about this? If you refuse to review, I'll keep yaoi-liscious Dark, Daisuke, Krad and Satoshi far away! BWAAHHAAHAH... HAHA... Ha.. .  
Btw, I DO go to school which gives like 6 hours of homework a day, giving me very little time to make chapters. I may not update in a while, but since you'll review, you'll use my guilt against me right? -refers to profile-


	2. Specious

**Just 20 Centimeters Away**

**Chapter Two: **Specious

**Warning: **Contents contain yaoi(boyxboy) aka shounen-ai, cursing, drama, and romance. If you don't like yaoi, then leave before reading another sentence! You have been warned...

**Summary:** -DarkxDai, SatoxKrad- A "first day of school" ends with drunken students passed out on the floor, an teacher who just doesn't stop screaming, and a new perverted student who won't leave Daisuke alone. But trouble seemed to love Daisuke, as it follows him home.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned D.N. Angel, I wouldn't need to write fanfics. Therefore, I own absolutely nothing.

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Azumano was a surprising town. The clean, brick streets and fountains of clear, dazzling blue gave the impression of a clean and simple environment where any child could happily spend his or her early years smiling with a naïve innocence. But then again, to someone who had moved five times in the past three years of his life, it seemed like any other city.

Though Azumano itself wasn't as interesting as other places Dark had lived in, it did have something he never had experienced before.

_Daisuke Niwa._

A small genuine smile formed on Dark's face.

True. The only reason he had messed with the kid was because of that insult by the azure-haired kid, but Daisuke had been so interesting from the second they had met. Red, flaming hair that danced with the wind's silent song. A small frame seemingly built entirely out of muscle, yet so fragile at the same time. A face which radiated bubbles and happiness from the essence of his soul. And those eyes..

Never before had he met an individual whose crimson eyes sparkled with such clarity. Even now as they widened with surprise, Dark admired the clear reflection of himself he saw within them.

"N-nane?? Dark?!"

Daisuke gasped, a hard lump forming in his throat as he recalled the school day. Surely this was all a mistake? Lost in his thoughts, he managed to ignore his mother's fuss over the fruitcake that now lay in a broken heap on the floor. Instead, his concentration seemed to center around the grinning teen that waved happily at him.

_Oh god. No! This is all just a little joke,_ pleaded Daisuke in his mind.

A Dark look-alike image decided to pop in and countered, _hell yeahh! It's meee Dai-chan!!_

A sharp burst of pain of Daisuke's head brought him back to reality. He winced in pain as his mother started whacking him with her unusually heavy purse.

WHACK.

"OW!" he shouted, recoiling in pain. Dark sniggered behind a hand.

WHACK.

Daisuke, shielding his poor aching head with his arms, shouted again, "Oka-san!!"

WHACK.

Midnight tresses flew in the air as Dark rolled around the floor, laughing his ass off.

WHACK.

A large red mark obscured Daisuke's once cream-colored arms.

WHACK.

Daisuke, fed up with his mom's crazy rampage, quickly pointed at Dark and shouted, "HOT BOY IN THE ROOM!"

Emiko dropped her purse. She looked at Dark, squealed in a way too high pitched voice and hugged him. Dark was no longer laughing. Instead, he glared at the redhead who gave a un-Daisuke like smirk. In fact, the smirk looked a bit too familiar..

Emiko freed Dark from her mega-ultra, hyper glomp and beamed, showing no recollection of the furious attack on her poor son just seconds ago.

Daisuke was about to leave when he heard another shriek of joy that sounded very much like his mother's. A loud pounding echoed from the hallway as a female voice screamed, "OPEN THE DOOR! I KNOW THERE ARE CUTE MALES IN HERE!!"

Recognition flared Daisuke's senses before fear entered his eyes.

"Run Dark, run!" he mouthed hurriedly, trying frantically to hold the door shut. Dark quirked an eyebrow in surprise that the young boy would try to warn him… of an impending doom?

Before he could move, a frightening kick knocked down the door with so much power, Daisuke felt himself fly ungracefully through the air, and into the wall of the next room.

"Kya!!"

Dark found himself once again, being hugged by some strange woman. After another minute, the lady let go of Dark and attacked Daisuke instead.

"Ano….. To…wa….Chan.. Please! You already hugged me ten minutes ago!" pleaded the suffocating redhead.

Towa merely smiled. "But you're soo adorable!"

Daisuke groaned before proceeding to pull her off.

--

Ten minutes later found Towa and Emiko sitting next to each other, while Daisuke was forced to sit next to Dark due to there being only two couches.

"Dark-kun, is it?"

The teen nodded, wondering how old she was. Though her face was that of a twenty year old, the silver hair seemed to say otherwise.

"Ahh. Sorry!! I'm so sorry about that, but I just can't STAND not seeing two ultra-cute boys!" Towa gushed, words spewing from her like agitated bees from a hive.

Dark smiled mildly. This was a very interesting day so far. He looked over to the frowning redhead who was busy trying to ignore him.

"It's okay, Towa-san. I'm use to it."

"Oh, so POLITE! Please, don't add any formalities! Chan is okay though. I feel like such an old lady when you call me san. After all, I AM only thirty-seven!"

As Emiko and Towa began chatting excitedly about their high school years, Dark took advantage of the lack of attention. Daisuke felt a rustle of clothing over fabric before noticing there was something brushing his backside. To be more precise, Dark was groping his butt.

"GYAH!" he screamed as a deep blush spread over his entire face. He quickly stood up, both hands grasped protectively over his gluteus maximus .

"Eh Daisuke-kun? What's the matter?" Dark asked innocently, amethyst eyes staring straight into garnet ones.

Towa and Emiko looked their way and simultaneously asked, "Daisuke? Is something wrong dear?"

The redhead grumbled an almost inaudible "No," before taking a deep breath before sitting down. Only this time, he scooted as far away from the pervert as possible.

"Daisuke, I was talking to Dark about you just a few minutes before you got here."

"A-ano. What were you exactly talking about me?" Daisuke dared to ask, trying to hold back the gulping sound that wanted to leap from his throat.

Emiko smiled sweetly, "Just about how you love art so much and that you're such a sweet little angel!"

Daisuke pouted, "Oka-san!"

Then she told Dark, "Dai-chan's such a nice boy! He always listens to me and never gets into fights. I've never even heard him swear either!"

Dark choked violently as he held back a laugh,"I beg to diff-OWWWW!"

He gingerly rubbed the arm that happened to lay the closet to Daisuke's fist. He glared at the redhead who was innocently whistling.

"So… Dark, why aren't your parents here?" asked Emiko.

Somehow, the Niwas and Towa had missed the shadow that darkened the youth's face.

"My parents are archeologists, so they travel the world a lot," he answered dryly.

Towa gasped, "Oh my! Could they be the famous Mr. and Mrs. Mousy??"

Dark nodded, wincing as another high squeak was emitted from the brunette.

"I just LOVE them! Their presentation and discoveries are so incredible and they always dress in such fashionable clothes! Did I mention Daisuke's dad is also an archeologist?"

Dark glanced in surprise at Daisuke who frowned indifferently and showed immense interest in his fingernails.

"Yes, my husband is Kosuke Niwa!" exclaimed Emiko excitedly. "He's not nearly as handsome as you, but I love him just the same. It's a poor shame that he only comes home once every six months for three days."

"Well, not every six months," blabbed Towa, barely thinking about her words. "There was that one time when Daisuke was seven and he fle-"

"Towa!" interrupted Emiko sharply.

Towa quickly covered her mouth with both hands, shocked at what she had revealed. Mauve eyes shifted to the side, only to meet what looked like a ghost.

Daisuke had paled considerably. His normally bright ruby eyes that shone with an undying light were now dull and void of life. An expression of pain and fear that covered the boy's face wretched Dark's heart. A fist trembled as the redhead tried to get his emotions under control.

"I-I h-have t-to go.."

Dark was stunned. As Daisuke left, he could've sworn he saw a solitary tear run down his cheek.

Amethyst eyes narrowed at the two women who were equally mortified.

--

Daisuke ran outside and into the cold, crisp air. He furiously brushed away the tear that had slid half-way down his cheek.

Great. Of all the damned people in the world, he had to be stuck with that stupid pervert as a neighbor. Even worse, his mom and Towa decided to have a little 'Make-Daisuke-Relive-Bad-Memories' chat and gave away the secret.

Suddenly, Daisuke felt his knees wobble slightly. He looked at the sky and saw the sun started to set; it's orange, yellow rays filling the sky. A familiar sensation burst through his body, causing his left arm to throb painfully. He made his way home, making sure to crush a garden gnome that lay on Dark's side of the lawn.

Back in the house, the said redhead carefully closed every window and its blinds before clambering up the stairs. Daichi glared solemnly at Emiko and Towa who hung their heads in shame.

"I'm sorry. It just… slipped out," Towa uttered, looking far from her usual optimistic self.

Emiko shook her head regretfully, "It's okay. He still hasn't recovered from that night seven years ago.."

The gloomy atmosphere filled the house; an unnatural shadow over the window went unnoticed.

--

"Daisuke!! Half an hour until school starts!!"

"….."

"Daisuke?"

"……"

"DAISUKE. IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE NOW, I'M GOING TO SHOW TAKESHI-KUN YOUR DRESS PICTURES!"

"……!!"

A loud thumping noise, followed by a muffled groan didn't phase Emiko at all. Rather, the middle-aged mother had expected it and knowledgeably placed a few pillows around the bedroom floor while Daisuke had been fast asleep.

A blur of red and black flew down the stairs with impossible speed which would've astounded any bystanders, had there been anyone looking.

"Daisuke, i-"

"Gonna be late! Bye!"

Emiko stared at the after-wind created by her son's insane speed and turned sharply at the sound of a slight chuckle.

Daichii gave his daughter an indignant glare.

"What? He _is_ your son after all."

--

Daisuke never wanted to murder his mother more in his entire life. When he had rushed down in the morning, she had neglected to tell him he was actually an hour _early_ rather than late. If that wasn't bad enough, he had worn his pants inside out. In fact, he hadn't realized it until he got in the train.

He had promptly turned an impossily dark red color when a young ten-year-old girl next to him had whispered quite loudly to her mother, "Ne! Ma! The redhaired onii-chan's got some funny pants. Can I have one too?"

The girl's mother had taken one glance at him before gasping, and shielded her daughter's wide blue eyes. She kept staring hungrily at Daisuke who feebly attempted to shield his lower body with a miniature backpack and almost missed her stop, had the little girl not bitten the woman's fingers.

But that wasn't what had put the redhead in a foul mood. After getting out of the train, he sprinted to the nearest bathroom and put his pants back on properly. Unfortunately he had been in such a rush, he accidently entered the girl's restroom which had been full but no one screamed. Rather, the girls had stared at Daisuke, never taking their eyes off of him.

The desk wobbled as it tried to withstand the pressure of Daisuke's kick. He glared the reflection in the window, wanting to strangle himself.

It wasn't his fault the he looked like a girl. (And a lot prettier than most!! xD) He unconsciously rubbed his red hair and attempted to flatten it without much success. The naturally spiky cherry-colored hair was just too noticeable and his eyes were twice the size of normal ones. Taking these facts into consideration, most people thought he was a girl.

"Stupid mom and maid. Making me cross-dress for their crazy yaoi-obsessed fetishes," he muttered angrily, kicking all the chairs and tables on the way to his desk.

As Daisuke sat down, he noticed a thick brown paper sticking out of the crevasse in his desk. Intrigued, a tender arm reached into the hole and pulled out a neatly wrapped package.

The boy stared at the rectangular box, trying to figure out what it was. After a few minutes, he gave up and succumbed to curiosity.

For about thirty seconds, loud tearing sounds could be heard as Daisuke quickly unwrapped the parcel, only to suck in his breath sharply.

"Waaa!"

A new sketchbook lay amidst the scraps of torn wrapping. The cover was made black unscarred leather, guaranteed to last for decades, and garnished with faint decorative strawberries. The high-quality paper was a rich, creamy color and from the texture, Daisuke knew it wouldn't smudge no matter what.

Daisuke slowly exhaled, trying to stay calm. He knew only the best artists used and could afford this expensive brand.

"This is.. uhhm probably someone else's!" he exclaimed, trying to not get too many fingerprints on the book. Using the brown paper, he picked it up and waved it in the air, as if to assure himself that it was real.

Suddenly, a small white envelope tumbled out of the sketchbook and landed gently on the desk.

Daisuke stared, not knowing what to do.

As if on cue, the wind decided to jump in through the open window and flipped the envelope onto it's back, revealing three words messily scrawled in a scarlet color that matched his eyes and hair.

_**For Daisuke Niwa**_

So, he opened it. Written in the same beautiful hue of red was a message.

_**To a gifted artist. Open the book, and unfold your destiny.**_

Well, that wasn't vague. Nope. Not at all.

Still, the redhead didn't really mind getting complimented and a free expensive present from an anonymous admirer, though it was kind of scary how whoever it was managed to locate his desk...

On second thought, make that really scary.

He shrugged off the feelings and set out to re-sketch the drawing Dark had ruined, not unaware of the figure that had slipped silently into the seat next to him.

--

Satoshi Hiwatari always hated mornings for a good number of reason. The sun was too bright, people had too much energy, and he liked sleeping in. Girls always seemed to gawk at him and gave him those annoying pink letters. It was the same stupid routine over and over again, and he really didn't like being trapped in a meaningless cycle. Everything was boring and stupid. Except Daisuke.

Satoshi always thought that Daisuke was an interesting sort of person. Despite the over-kind nature which was often abused by Takeshi and the Harada's, he had a rare talent of making anything seem better. While Daisuke was bubbly and smiled all the time, he was more anti-social and preferred to be alone.

The two had been friends since elementary school. Which was why he wasn't surprised to find the redhead busy drawing. However, he did raise a eyebrown questionably at the sketchbook.

Who knew that a boy who found pleasure in simple things like cute stuffed animals would have such expensive taste?

Satoshi gave a wry grin and sat next to his friend. Or.. at least he tried to.

"What the hell are you doing in my seat?" he growled.

Dark turned to give an impish smirk at the azure-haired boy.

"I don't see your name on it!" he sang annoyingly, violet eyes twinkling mischievously. Dark's words seemed to vibrate in Satoshi's ear, giving him a headache.

The glasses flashed dangerously as Satoshi edged closer, giving a twisted smile of his own. Dark, sensing the aura of murderous intent, instantly jumped off the chair and backed up a few feet.

"GOD!" he shouted, unnerved by the crazed look of evil in Satoshi's eyes. "That was…. that was….."

He paused, racking his brain for the special word.

"THAT WAS CREEPY!"

Dumbfounded, Satoshi stared at Dark who grinned back at him earnestly.

"I am not creepy," he said through gritted teeth.

Dark smiled. Looks like he had finally hit a crack in the impassive boy's walls.

"Creepy boy. Stop being so damn creepy and take your creepy little ass back to where it came from."

"What the hell?"

"Creepy boy, creepy boy. Creepy, creepy creeeeeepy!"

"I'M NOT CREEPY YOU FUCKING WOMANIZER!"

"Hey everyone! Creepy boy knows how to swear!"

"….I refuse to play this childish game with you."

"Mr. Mousy and Hiwatari. Sorry to interrupt your little conversation, but we ARE in the middle of a lesson," interrupted Ms. Ginko.

Satoshi turned to find the whole class had been watching him and Dark argue the entire time. He gave one last withering glare at Dark before grudgingly sitting behind the redhead who had miraculously managed to once again, ignore the argument.

--

The entire time in class, Satoshi kept a sharp eye on Dark just in case he might try to do something to Daisuke. But for some reason, all the teen had done was fiddle with something in his pocket and watch the redhead draw.

_I'm too sexy for my shirt. Too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts._

The class stared as Dark flipped open his cell phone and answered, "Hey."

"YOU DUMBASS! DARK! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW! You're THREE FUCKING HOURS LATE FOR OUR MEETING! I-"

The cell phone now lay on the floor, a male voice voicing its anger in very err.. _creative_ ways. Dark chuckled uncertainly before springing to his feet and announcing to the teacher, "You heard the woman-"

"MAN!" screamed the little voice from the cell phone.

"I'm a little late for an appointment." He gave the infamous playboy smile and left without another word, leaving all the girls (especially the teacher) and quite a few guys moaning in lust and agony.

Only Satoshi noticed that on his way out, Dark had dropped whatever he had been playing with in his pocket by his desk. He reached over and plucked it off the floor before anyone else could, and examined it with interest.

_Hmmm,_ he thought, pocketing the pen. _What an interesting shade of red._

* * *

**Mayu:** AHHHH! Sorry, for the super late update.. I know I usually update within like a week, but I have a ton of homework. To make it up to you.. I give you free chocolate! Don't worry. I had them all test-poisoned by my little brother.

I am sooo sorry that there's not enough funny in this chapter. B U T. As you all know, something must develope between Dark and Daisuke! A story can't have be just lemons and sex you know!

**Dark: **-AHEM- Actually...  
**Daisuke:** Don't EVEN go there. Mayu hurry up and get on with your message.  
**Mayu: **Yessir!

Oh my! The drama! I did warn you all in the warning section! Something that happened seven years ago? I wonder what that might be! Haha...ha. I thank all my reviewers!

Will you **review** and spur on my guilt so that I may write the next chapter even faster than before? I promise more yaoi-liciousness( thats not even a word..) in the next chapter!


	3. Thrice

**Warning: **Yaoi, shounen ai, drama, romance**  
Disclaimer:** Is my name Yukiru? No. End of discussion.

* * *

**Chapter Three: **Numbers

* * *

"Hey! Move it!"

"No!! YOU move it."

"Ow, that was my leg!"

"Well if it wasn't so big.."

"WHAT?!"

The cranky waitresses at the cosplay café were having their daily meaningless fight, only it wasn't so meaningless this time. They were trying to get a good look of the handsome blonde, long-haired man who currently sipping his coffee calmly. In reality, however, the man was pissed to no extent.

Feline eyes narrowed at the watch as he began to stab the poor croissant with a silver miniature fork. The man began mumbling to himself, a habit developed from waiting too long too many times for the same individual who was now three hours late.

"Fucking jerk. Wakes me at three A.M. and then shows up late."

He sighed longingly at the thought of his warm, soft bed. The single, twenty-year olds in scantily clad cat outfits, however, took that sigh as a breath of seduction and rummaged their purses for cameras.

"Yo Krad. What did that little piece of bread ever do to you?"

The long silky golden hair flipped over Krad's shoulder as he looked up, face contorted in surprise which quickly changed to anger.

"DARK! YOU LATE POMPOUS ASSHOLE!"

The waitresses nearly fell over in shock at the other extremely handsome male with stunning plum hair and matching violet eyes. Could they be a gay couple?

Dark, well aware of the crowd watching them, slid into the seat in front of Krad and smirked yet again.

"Now, now, Kraddy-kun. Didn't I tell you to never call out my name unless you're in bed," he d stated sternly.

Dark barely had time to mutter "shit" before a stream of piping hot coffee covered his shirt and pants.

Krad couldn't help but laugh at the now ridiculous looking boy in front of him. Dark' originally loose black shirt streaked with white lightening patterns was now a soggy chocolate color while his leather pants had a large, growing stain in the front. Even Dark's tanned face seemed to darken from the coffee.

"Ahh. Looks like I'm wet. Can't go shirtless without a clean shirt ready can I?" he said suggestively, brushing the wet hair back lazily.

The women squawked and with an excited hoot, stampeded off to the nearest clothing store leaving a mushroom cloud of dust in its wake.

The two men stared before breaking out into laugher.

"Oh gods Dark," Krad wheezed. "Can't go shirtless without a clean shirt? Was that really the best you could come up with?"

Dark snorted. Ha! As if the great Dark Mousy would ever have to use such stupid catch phrases!

"Not really," he admitted. "I just figured it'd be funny to see what their reaction would be.

Krad choked in mid-laugh and quirked an eyebrow.

"Really now Dark. You shouldn't flatter yourself. After all, you are the most dense, dim-witted figure to ever cross my path. And I should mention, I have seen quite a few special individuals in a certain hospital."

Dark glared at the blonde who smiled well, too angelically.

"You and creepy boy would make a perfect couple," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing.."

"Well, now that those freaky crapped-up excuses for females are finally out of the picture, we can talk in private."

Dark instantly sobered up, his light, carefree nature suddenly replaced by a cold, empty disposition. In a blink of an eye, a manila folder labled: **K.A.I.T.O.** was pushed over the table and into Dark's prepared arms. In turn, Dark reached into a hidden pocket of his jacket and flicked a microchip sealed in an airtight plastic bag into Krad's open hand.

The two men clasped hands with each other and nodded knowingly at one another.

"Don't get caught by anyone Krad. It'll be a pain to clean up the mess ya' know."

"Don't get fucked up too many times Dark. You might hurt yourself."

Then together in solemn voices,"For Freedert-san!"

When the waitresses of the café came back, in place of two hot guys making out with each other was an elderly old man with a lecherous smile, waiting to be served tea.

The women shuddered.

--

_Ding, ding!_

Daisuke looked up from the drawing which was an exact replica of the one Dark had ruined, only more detailed if possible. He sighed happily and locked it securely in a waterproof ziplock, an insanely huge grin covering his face. Let see if Dark could ruin this new sketchbook!

Speaking of the evil jerk, where was he? And more importantly, where was Hiwatari-kun?

Daisuke's eyes darted around the room, hoping to find a familiar figure. The only people who were in his class that he remotely knew was Mio Hio, Risa, Satoshi, and Takeshi. Takeshi had been suspended again for peeking in the girl's locker room while taking pictures with a FLASH ONLY camera, Mio Hio was busy flirting with boys, Satoshi was nowhere to be found, and Risa attempting to convert her twin sister Riku to the Dark Obsessed Fan-Club who was now currently fighting over who got to touch the _Great Dark-sama's Chair of Sexiness_.

The redhead was almost happy as he took out a homemade bento and chewed contently on an onigiri roll. Today was pretty good considering all the events that had taken place so far. A gift from a stalker, a completed sketch ready to be taken home and painted, and most of all, a Dark-free day!

Daisuke hadn't seen a sign of vivid purple anywhere. Nope. Not outside, not in the classroom, and especially not in the…uh…. doorway.

"DARK-SAMA!! WE MISSED YOU!!"

The effort of the shriek managed to carry out of the room and onto the rooftop.

"What was that?" Satoshi asked, pulling away from the warm embrace.

The other growled possessively. How dare they be interrupted? And by girls nonetheless!

With a snarl, he took the opportunity to nimbly slide a hand under Satoshi's hard-to-unbutton shirt, making the boy gasp loudly.

"N-no! We c-can'-"

Before Satoshi could say another word, he silenced was with a kiss.**(1)**

Back in the classroom, Dark was turning up the charm. Big time.

"Ladies, no need to be so worried over me," Dark said smoothly. "I can take care of myself. After all, I do live alone."

Daisuke clasped his ears with both hands, trying to block out the crappy playboy lines and screams of awe. Evil thoughts filled the boy's head even though he frowned indifferently at his bento.

_Stupid Dark. Flirting with all those retarded stalker girls while trying to make himself look all cool. IDIOT! I hope he gets raped by them at night in an alley. Then after he gets raped, those girl's stab him dead and drop him in a chemical vat to "preserve the eternal beauty" and worship him every day of their life!_

Dark glanced at the redhead who was currently staring at a half-eaten lunch with too much interest. He smiled wryly. Fine. Two could play at that game.

"And since I live alone, that means I can do _anything_ I want," he added for good measure.

The girls stared at him, mouths half-opened as they practically drooled a puddle. Daisuke, on the other hand, didn't get the hint and tilted his head to the side in confusion.

Amethyst eyes met the ruby ones before Daisuke turned away, pink staining his cheeks.

_Wait a second_, Daisuke thought. _What did that phrase mean? And more importantly, why did I blush?!_

While Daisuke frantically pondered his thoughts, Dark made his move. Within five seconds, he managed to shove a path through the crowd of females (literally.. HURRAY!) and bent down, his face only inches away from Daisuke's.

"Hey! What's the big ide-"

Silence.

Though Dark had only lightly brushed Daisuke's lips with his own, taking only a second, to everyone else it seemed longer. Much longer.

Horrified, Daisuke shoved the teen away and brought a shaking finger up to his lips. The blush that now covered his face was absolutely magnificent, blending in perfectly, if not darker, with his cherry hair and eyes.

"Sorry girls, I'm think I've found my certain someone," Dark announced snidely to the shocked girls, licking his lips.

"You… you…"

Dark bent down to hear Daisuke better.

"Yes my lovely and oh so fuckable Dai-chan?"

"JERK!"

Dark fell to the floor, wincing in pain. The little redhead had actually punched him in the stomach. And hard too. Who knew such a small boy could have so much power?

By the time he got up, Daisuke had long exited from the classroom via the window, along with his backpack and jacket.

--

Daisuke scrubbed his face or more precisely, his lips, for the twentieth time in the row. He still could feel Dark's lips no matter how many times he doused his face with soapy water.

Daisuke screeched silently at the bathroom mirror. It was all Dark's fault that this year was going horribly. Not only did the pervert steal his first kiss, but basically in front of the entire female population at his school as well!

He pounded his head against the wall, thankful noone could hear the loud banging, hoping to suffer amnesia and not remember the entire incident at all. But he couldn't help remembering the tingling sensation that came with the kiss. It felt so right and yet..

ARGHHH! I DO NOT LIKE THAT HENTAI, Daisuke shouted in his head. But then, he really liked any girls either and always assumed that he had never met the "right one."

Daisuke shook his head wildly. He was confused and needed something to get his mind off of the whole a burst of vigor, he set out to bring the sketch to life on a canvas.

--

The evening sky glowered with a brilliant myriad of orange and scarlet that clashed beautifully with the cerulean skies. White clouds hung lazily, revealing a dull shadow that would soon overcome the setting sun. And Daisuke Niwa didn't care.

All he worried about was that he could finish painting before the light from the day would fade into pitch black. A huge sigh of relief escaped the boy as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead, leaving streaks of purple in its place.

The painting was finally done and Daisuke felt like celebrating. Time to grab a drink!

He had snatched the last can of soda and was walking up the wooden stairs before realizing a strange creaking noise that emitted from his room. Slowly, he crept up the stairs, noting the unnatural silence that seemed to resonate through-out the entire house.

_Just my luck_, Daisuke thought bitterly. _The one time I need Oka-san and Towa-chan to be around has to be when they're on a three month vacation to see new artwork._

A sharp intake of breath echoed from the room. Daisuke couldn't bear it any longer and pushed open the door, ready to slam the can of soda onto the intruder's head. Instead, he dropped the drink which exploded into a shower of clear, bubbly liquid at his feet and stared incredulously at the familiar figure who had been gazing intently at his drawing.

"Dark?"

"Hi Dai-chan!" came the cheerful response.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT and w-why are you wearing o-only a towel?!"

Dark grinned, "I just took a shower!"

Daisuke couldn't help but admire the teen's body. It was the embodiment of perfection. Lean and smooth to an almost unnatural degree. The dark purple hair hung over the startling violet eyes that always seemed to have a twinkle in them. And contrasting sharply against the tanned skin that was a white towel that hung loosely…

Dark smirked at the red blush that had crept into Daisuke's face.

"Like what you see?"

"W-what are you saying stupid! You're only wearing a towel! What else am I suppose to look at?" Daisuke stuttered, extremely flustered.

Dark seemed to grin even wider at the boy's response.

"Want to see more?" he asked, arms crossed.

"W-w-WHAT??"

"I said. Do. You. Want. To See. More?" Dark repeated slowly, emphasizing each word. He could almost see the cogs and bolts running at full speed in Daisuke's head until the boy finally got what Dark meant.

"No! NO! I don't want to see anymore! Dark! Get back in your own room!!"

"Too late!"

With a flash, the towel was thrown onto Daisuke's bed.

"NOOOO!! MY EYES! THEY BURN!! THEY-hey you lied!"

Skin-tight black shorts covered the teen's lower front. Dark chortled, "What _did_ you expect to see?"

Daisuke blushed for the tenth time that day. What had he been expecting to see? Ehehehehe….

He stepped forward, ready to throttle the arrogant male, only to slip on the fizzling puddle. He squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for the pain and loud thumping sound that would shake his room. However, it never came.

Scarlet eyes opened in surprise and Daisuke found in Dark's strong arms, carried bridal style.

"Let me go!!" he snapped.

Dark smirked again. Daisuke felt annoyance buzzing in his head. That smirk was becoming really irritating.

"You sure you want me to drop you?

Daisuke nodded furiously. Who would want to be held in a pervert's arms? Even if he was drop dead se-oh my god. He refused to let himself finish that thought and began struggling instead. He kicked and flailed his arms to no avail.

"But if I let you go, you'll run away," Dark explained.

"No. Of course not Dark. I'd stay in this position forever," Daisuke replied sarcastically. "Of course I'd run and call the police."

Ok. Maybe that wasn't working. Time to change plans. Provoke attack!!

"Dai-chaaan! You're so heavy!"

Daisuke blanched. He was not fat!

"If I'm so heavy, THEN let me go!"

"No."

"Stop touching me you molester!"

"No way."

"Drop dead you perverted freak!"

"I'm no freak."

"But you are perverted."

Daisuke sighed. This conversation was getting absolutely nowhere. Plus, those amethyst eyes seemed to swirl in hypnotic patterns, making him feel dizzy. Or maybe it the fact that his face was pressed against Dark's shirtless chest.

"Fine. You win."

Scarlet eyes blinked in amazement. Dark's reply had been unusually short and to the point. No twisted perverted comments or anything. Daisuke felt uncertainty grip him but waved the feelings away. Maybe Dark wasn't that bad after all.

"Daisuke."

Daisuke looked up, surprised that he wasn't being called 'Dai-chan'. He had no time to react as Dark's lips descended upon his. The kiss in class had lasted for a mere millisecond or two and only the slightest contact had been made. This one was deliberately slow and passionate, pressure building up each second. Daisuke gasped, giving Dark the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue in and probe around, exploring every bit of the hot cavern that lay within. Daisuke felt himself go limp and suddenly shuddered as tingles of foreign pleasure ran down in his spine as something hot and wet brushed against a certain area.

As Dark deepened the kiss, the tingles formed into continuous streams. Daisuke became aware that one of Dark's hands was lost in his brick-red spiky hair and that both of his own hands had somehow wrapped themselves around Dark's sturdy shoulders. Without warning, he violently shoved the purple-haired boy away and fell to the floor. The two panted heavily, drawing in greedy breathes of air.

"So, I'm a pretty good kisser eh?"

Daisuke didn't need to look at Dark to know that he was wearing that infamous smirk. Neither did Dark need to look at Daisuke to know a heated blush was covering the redhead's face.

"I'll just leave you ponder lovely thoughts about my sexiness okay Dai-chan?"

Dark leap through the window, taking his towel with him.

Daisuke stared at the accursed window for ten full minutes before slamming it down, locking it, and poured super-glue all over the openings. Then he closed the blinds and threw himself onto his bed, willing the feeling of Dark's kiss to leave. But he found himself unable to do so…

Because a intoxicating scent uniquely Dark covered his bed.

--

Twenty centimeters over sat the male teen who was utterly confused as to why he had kissed Daisuke.

At first, Dark only wanted to get revenge on Satoshi for calling him names. But somehow, his goal has changed from pissing creepy boy off to messing with Daisuke's mind. Dark wasn't even gay or bi either. He had lied to the redhead just to see what kind of reaction he could get out of him. And that kiss in the classroom? It was just to frighten or perhaps freak out any fans. He was straight!

Yeah. Straight as a pencil… A broken one…

Yet he had enjoyed the kiss and indulged himself it, even going all out. He couldn't help himself. Rather than tasting of strawberries like he predicted, Daisuke tasted of a unique sweetness, but not overwhelmingly so. They had fit; better than pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but more as if they were two lost halves finally brought together.

The strident sound of a doorbell sharply ringing brought Dark out of his thoughts. Quickly composing himself, he jumped from the 2nd story to the 1st, landing silently on the floor.

"Dark-san?" asked a female voice, pleading desperation in her voice.

That voice. No.. it couldn't be. Dark's heart rate skyrocketed and thundered painfully in his chest. He quickly opened the door, raw emotions clashing against one another in a heated wave.

Risa stood on his doorstep, an umbrella shielding her from the fading glowing rays of sunlight. The pink summer dress was much too short to protect the girl from the cold fall weather and she shivered. A bright red ribbon twisted her brown hair in an elegant knot which had begun to fall apart in the gusty winds.

"Dark-san, I wanted to t-thank you for saving m-me on the first day!" she stuttered. Then, she noticed his shirtless-ness and bowed in apology. "S-sorry for bothering you when you were t-taking a show-"

"Relax Risa," Dark cut in smoothly.

Risa shuddered, not just from the cold, but because Dark has said her name with such familiarity. It sounded so beautiful, almost poetic, coming from his mouth.

"I finished my shower a while ago," he continued. "Would you like to come in?"

"Y-yes please!" Risa nearly squealed with joy. She thought Dark might be mad at her for visiting him unannounced and uninvited, but he seemed to be okay with it!

Dark was still lost in his thoughts, his mind far away. He couldn't help but compare _her_ with Risa and notice the similarities. The resemblance between _her _and Risa was uncannily accurate, forcing fragments of memories back into Dark's mind. Even the dark chocolate eyes that peered curiously at him were exactly the same.

Lost in a sea of undulating emotions, his body reacted capriciously.

"Dark, I-"

She never finished her sentence. She and Dark were kissing and she gave in without resistance at all. Though Risa's mind was blissfully blank, Dark's mind was torn between two people. One of whom he had been kissing earlier.

* * *

**(1)** Aha! Instead of Riku being shutup with Dark's kiss, it's Satoshi with a certain someone! I wonder who?? –cough cough-

**Mayu:** Woah. So very many kisses in this chapter. Dark! How could you kiss Daisuke and THEN Risa? And who could _she_ possibly be? **Review** ! If you don't.. I shall unleash a virus upon your computer that will prevent you from ever reading any manga/anime/fun things!! Then you will suffer manga/anime/fun withdrawal! ..ha…

Okay, so I uploaded this a little early. Thats okay right? I mean, you readers all love me? -smiles brightly- Well, I'm not too sure when I'm gonna upload the next chapter... I need to work on my other fanfics and not be a total prat by making you guys wait too long? Once again, I give my thanks to all **Review**er's and free Dai-chan dolls!


	4. Inundation

**Warning: **yaoi(boyxboy) aka shounen-ai, cursing, drama, and chivalry**  
AN: **I'm BAAACK! After a long break, I've finally written the next chapter of J20CA. And of course, I have a valid excuse for taking a damn long time. Finals, personal issues (don't worry; it's not like I have MPD or schizophrenia) , yadda, yadda, yadda. I know you don't really want to hear this, so enjoy.**  
Disclaimer:**"Can I please have Daisuke Yukiru-san?" –puppy eyes-  
"Okay."  
"REALLY??"  
"No."

* * *

**Chapter Four: **Inundation

* * *

"-nd that's why your beloved former teacher, Ms. Ginko has now retired to a lovely retirement home in the far away state Florida!"

Knowing better than to applaud loudly and throw confetti right in front of the principal, the class cheered inwardly, barely concealing wide, euphoric grins.

Dark quirked an eyebrow, completely caught off guard. Amethyst eyes darted around the classroom while an eyebrow quirked inquisitively. What the hell had just happened in the last few minutes that altered the once dreary, dejected atmosphere into a light and airy classroom?

He scratched his head nonchalantly, messing up the violet strands of hair while unconsciously drawing silent shrieks of glee from threatened to burst from behind the pursed lips of various girls in the classroom.

The principal sighed, shaking her light brown hair. Her light eyes flickered warily over the classroom and its inmates. The kids seemed smart and quiet enough, forcing the woman speculate why the instructor had decided to quit right at the beginning of a new school year. Her gaze eventually paused on Dark who yawned, stretching in his sear.

Ginko..

The brunette shuddered involuntarily. Ginko _had_ seemed a bit unscrewed that day. Her words were sounded raw and possessed with an eerie edge. But she had mentioned something strange the day she resigned. Something very strange..

"_GODLY PURPLE… RED…!! NOO!!!!!!"_

The only thing purple in this room the woman could see was the transfer student Dark, and he seemed pretty diligent. In fact, out of the entire class, he was the only student studying his textbook while his peers shamelessly whispered to one another. And in front of their administrator no less.

The woman cleared her throat loudly. "Until we can find a new teacher to replace Ms. Ginko, I, Mrs. Sasajima shall be taking place as your teacher. Now let's take roll."

--

"Mousy, Dark?"

"Here," Dark answered, not bothering to look up. He yawned uninterestedly and settled his head in a comfortable position between his arms.

"Naka, Shitake?"

"Present!"

"Niwa, Daisuke?"

Silence rang throughout the classroom, forcing Mrs. Sasajima to repeat the name.

"Daisuke?"

"He's sick."

Heads and eyes turned to stare at Satoshi who seemed more interested in playing with a small object that lay in his hands, than meeting the visage of his classmates.

Mrs. Sasajima nodded and moved down the list of names until she reached the end.

"Okay. Other than Daisuke Niwa, we have a full class," Mrs. Sasajima muttered to herself. Then, she announced, "Does anyone know where Daisuke lives? I have a few papers for his parents to sign, such as the class syllabus, guidelines, and behavior contracts."

Before a wave of hands could raise, the newly self-appointed teacher added, "And yes, you all will have to sign these as well."

Two hands quickly shot into the air and voices declared in unpracticed unison, "I'll go."

Satoshi narrowed his eyes at the mauve-haired male and coldly scorned, "What makes you think you're qualified to go?"

Dark attempted to shoot the blunette with his own glare and shot back, "I live next door to him creepy boy, so lay off."

"Stop calling me creepy!"

"Make me, why doncha!"

"Shut it jerk!"

"Weirdo!"

"Bastard!"

"Pipsqueak!"

"Fuc-"

"-Hiwatari! Mousy! No profanities or harassment in class!" Mrs. Sasajima quickly cut in. "Both of you will serve detention for two hours today. Anymore of this, and it's scrubbing the entire class for the next week!"

The two obliged by closing their mouths, but continued to glower at one another.

"Oh, and Dark," Mrs. Sasajima said, trying to hide the blush that slowly crept up her neck. The teen really was good-looking. Had she not been so disciplined, she would've wished she was thirty years younger. "Since you live closer to Daisuke, you can give him those documents."

"Ha! Take that creepy boy!"

"Detention for the next week, Mousy!"

--

While in other countries, such as the U.S.A., or Canada, detention was considered a waste of time. All the students really did during that long, annoying two hours was read pornography behind textbooks **(1)**, doodle, and or whisper. However, Azumano High was a little more advanced in that particular area.

"Mousy, you can start by scrubbing the desks," Mrs. Sasajima dictated, handing a sponge and bucket of water to the said teen.

"And you Hiwatari," the woman said, turning to the shorter male. "Start grading those tests from last week."

Dark gawked at the two. "Hey! Sasajima-sensei! Why can't I grade the tests and have Satoshi clean the desks?"

Satoshi smirked, glasses flashing. "Maybe because I have a 5.0 GPA? And maybe because you sleep in class?"

"Hey!" Dark sniffed indignantly. "I like to call it 'creative usage of class time' thank you very much."

Satoshi sighed as he shook his head. "Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless."

Mrs. Sasajima groaned. Although she did admire the boy's sharp tongues, she was getting tired of all the sniping. "Just do your work. I have to make a few copies of a worksheet, so I'll be back in a few minutes."

As soon as Dark was sure the teacher had left the hallway, he turned around and scoffed, "What the hell's that suppose to mean creepazoid?"

"Wow," Satoshi almost snorted. The fact that by doing so would've lowered him to the baka's level kept him from joining in the immature game. "Stupid _and_ hopeless. It's a wonder your parents managed to raise you."

Satoshi felt an iron grip grabbed his shirt's collar before being lifted nearly a foot off the ground. "Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about," Dark growled.

Calm cerulean eyes met darkened amethyst ones, never dropping their intense gaze. Something behind Dark's fury was cleverly masked behind layers of withheld emotion and years of self training. Satoshi knew this much, not from his PH.D in human psychology, but from experience.

"Tch." Satoshi blinked at the sudden release of his shirt.

Dark scowled, angrier at himself than at Satoshi. Damn it! He wasn't supposed to lose control. At least, not here.

When Mrs. Sasajima entered the classroom, she expected Satoshi and Dark at each other's throats. Well, something similar to that. Rather, she found the two doing their jobs, working in a deadly silence. She sighed, not enjoying the tense atmosphere.

Sometimes, she wished she had become a doctor, or maybe a lawyer. At least that job didn't have to deal with hormonal teenagers.

---

"Hello? Niwa-kun? Heeellllloooo??"

Dark stared at the brown-haired girl practically pounding on the poor redhead's door. Wait a sec… Wasn't Risa supposed to be at his door, and not Daisuke's?

"Niwa-kun? Can you hear me in there??"

Dark frowned at the short bob haircut. Risa's hair had looked so much better long.

"Excuse me, Harada Risa?"

The said brunette turned around to find a plum-haired teen crossing his arms, staring at her intently with lilac eyes.

That was, until she violently shoved him off the door step and onto the ruthless cement.

"I am NOT Risa! Don't ever compare me to that air-headed lunatic!" she screamed, stomping a foot in frustration.

Dark winced, clutching a throbbing arm. "Er, great.. Then who are you?"

The Risa-look alike seemed to deflate, blowing out excess steam. She calmly replied, "Riku. Harada Riku. I'm Risa's twin and older sister!"

Then, extending a slim arm, she grabbed Dark's hand and attempted to hoister him up.

"Sorry about that." Riku explained, "I just really don't like people calling me Risa. It's like calling me the stupid twin."

Dark nodded. "You don't look stupid Riku."

Riku suddenly beamed, pulling a slightly perplexed Dark to his feet. "Thanks, Mister…."

"Dark. Dark Mousy."

Just as quick as the smile had come, it disappeared in a flash as once again, Riku shoved the poor teen away from her and onto the ground.

"Y-you!" she gasped, pointing an accusing finger at the groaning Dark who rubbed his elbow tenderly.

"Me?"

"You!"

"…Me..."

"YOU!!"

"… Sorry, I don't know where this is going…"

"You're Dark Mousy!"

Confusion made itself a nice home on Dark's face as he muttered, "I thought we already established that fact.."

"You're that perverted freak who kissed my sister and made her get into fan girl mode for ten straight hours!"

"….Fan girl mode..?"

Riku nearly shrieked in frustration. "Yes! Fan girl mode. She practically made an altar to worship '_the great god Dark Mousy'_. Thanks a lot."

She gave one last glare at Dark before angrily striding away.

Dark shook his head.

That was the last time he ever confronted a stranger.

--

For a while, Dark debated whether breaking into Daisuke's house was a good idea. But then, he figured, morality and good conduct was only monitored in school. Outside, it really didn't matter.

So, he went for it.

Sharp eyes searched intently for a broken hinge, unlocked window, or even a loose bolt. However, the fruits of his labor revealed nothing.

Dark grunted a slight approval. This kid was good. Apparently, all the windows and doors had been shut, locked, and then locked again. Most of the windows had even been super glued.

For a moment, Dark hesitated, closing his eyes and clearing his mind in a tranquil fashion. A strong, familiar voice that had never been lost, but only repressed for years whispered gently.

"_But even the most perfect diamond has blemishes…" _

Right there! Above the left corner of the roof, there was a gaping tube.

With a quick leap, Dark cleared the distance between the two houses and stealthily dashed to the cylinder. Upon closer inspection, it was actually a chimney and from the looks of it, it hadn't been used for a long time.

"…_isn't that right…kaito-san?"_

A strange sensation bubbled up in his stomach as adrenaline surged through his body, and without hesitation, Dark dove in, feet first.

Decades worth of dust and ash floated up around the teen, nearly choking him. Though the chimney was only a couple meters tall, it seemed to go on forever before Dark's feet no longer scraped against brick walls.

As Dark silently dropped onto the floor, a sharp sting ran through his hand. A thin stream of blood oozed from between the split skin on the knuckles, but his body barely registered the pain until he had actually seen it.

Inwardly, Dark cursed his own stupidity. Gloves would've been perfect for this kind of mission. Now, he had a flesh wound which made it easy to leave a trace.

Not that Dark was breaking in to the Daisuke's house. Not at all. He was just going to break and check on redhead before leaving.

The plum-haired male shuddered. Frigid air sent goose bumps shooting up the tanned, sleeveless arms.

"D-daisuke?" he asked between chattering teeth. Sheesh. No wonder Daisuke had gotten sick. It was like a freakin' ice cube in here.

A weak, muffled moan echoed from inside the living room, so Dark followed the voice.

On his way, he noticed the exquisite paintings that wantonly decorated the walls of the house. Sure, Emiko was a bit loose in the head, but she had excellent taste in art and that definitely accounted for something in Dark's book.

Inside the living room, Dark's mouth nearly dropped. A pile of used tissues filled one corner of the room, while empty cups of noodles filled another.

Even though he himself was pretty irresponsible, Dark was pretty sure that living off of instant noodles was a bad idea. Especially when one was sick.

As Dark took a step forward, his foot collided with something soft. He looked down and saw a tight bundle of blankets wrapped aroun- holy shit! Was that Daisuke?!

--

Daisuke Niwa was not a happy camper. Hell, he wasn't even a camper. But what he was doing, anybody might've mistaken him for one.

Three nights ago, thanks to a certain playboy neighbor, Daisuke's bed now smelled like absolutely, and completely, like Dark.

It wasn't just his bed though. Because apparently someone up there had some kind of intense dislike of red haired teenagers and made Dark's smell fill his entire room. And to make matters worse, that stupid kiss kept replaying over and over in his head.

Unable to sleep in his own room without turning bright red, Daisuke moved down to the living room. Of course, he had completely forgotten that the only rooms containing heating vents were the bedrooms that belonged to him, his mom, and his grandpa.

With no money for food and only cabinets of instant noodles and a water heater, Daisuke was forced to eat ramen for every meal.

Catching a cold didn't help as well.

For two days, Daisuke struggled to keep the house immaculate, but by the third day, he didn't even have the energy to move. Instead, he sat in a corner, blankets cocooning him as he shivered. He drifted in and out of consciousness continuously, losing track of time. The only time he bothered to get up, was to use the bathroom or drink water.

"Hey. You okay?" asked a voice.

Daisuke wrenched his eyes open and found himself staring into the eyes of a deeply concerned male.

"You look kinda funny.." he whispered.

A cool hand dropped onto his forehead and the voice exclaimed, "Shit! You're burning up."

"Am not!" Daisuke declared, completely outraged at the comment. He forced his body to sit up, completely ignoring the cry of protest from his limbs. He giggled uncontrollably and poked Dark between his eyes.

"I'm not the one with the pink eyes!"

"..Pink?" There was definitely something wrong with Daisuke.

"Yeah! You have pink eyes, but that's okay. I likes pink. It's a pretty color!"

Dark raised a hand and made the peace sign. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Scarlet eyes attempted to focus on the hand before he frowned. "How do you have six fingers on one hand?"

Suddenly, Daisuke was lifted off the ground and into Dark's chilled arms. His eyes fluttered sleepily as he was carried to his room.

"Daisuke, you have to go back to sleep okay?" Dark told the redhead, tucking him into the bed. He turned around to grab a pack of ice for Daisuke's fever, but a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Not yet! Daisuke wants a goodnight kiss!" Daisuke demanded, lips twisted in a slight pout.

"You want a goodnight kiss from _me_?" Dark repeated, disbelief coloring his tone. Shit shit shit! The kid was really sick.

"Uhuh! Just like Oka-san use to do!"

The mauve-haired teen smiled thinly. "Okay Dai-chan. First, you have to close your eyes."

Daisuke obediently complied and shut his eyes tightly.

Dark slowly inched out of the room, trying to not make a sound.

"When am I going to get my kiss?" Daisuke asked in a sing-song voice.

"Keep them closed for just one minute," Dark called out from the stairs.

When Dark returned from the kitchen, Daisuke was already fast asleep.

--

Daisuke was dreaming. There was no possible way he could've been flying over an ocean of golden honey. The clouds were made of soft marshmallow, floating lazily around the hazy orange sky. Mountains were made of colored sweets, and tiny white rabbits with ruby eyes bounced across the chocolate ground.

But two familiar voices kept invading his dream.

"Damn it Dark. The hell did you do to the poor kid?!"

"I did nothing creepy boy! I just went into his house and he was wrapped in blankets on the floor!"

"..went? You mean you broke into his house?"

"Yes! I mean, no. I mean, look. Just tell me the diagnosis okay? Sheesh." Dark snorted. "It should be easy for a creepy genius like you."

Satoshi hissed, "I am not creepy!"

"Ano, can you please keep it down?"

Satoshi and Dark stopped in mid-argument to face a bleary eyed Daisuke who instantly fell asleep at the silence.

"So what's wrong with him?" Dark murmured.

Satoshi sighed, shaking his head. "He originally caught a cold from lack of sleep. However, it escalated into pneumonia due to lack of nutrition and environmental factors. His body is currently fighting off the illness, third week in the primary immune response. I recommend two days of bed rest and plenty of vitamins. No more of this instant noodle drivel."

Dark stared at the pale boy. "W-wait. You're actually going to leave me here with Daisuke?"

Satoshi deadpanned. "Why not?"

Dark blanched, "Don't know. Figure you might so, '_Oh, since Dark is such a playboy ass, he might to molest my one and only friend.'"_ He grinned at Satoshi's slightly opened mouth._ "_Well, something like that."

He pulled out a minuscule notebook from his jacket's pocket and read, "Let's see. Dark Mousy, seventeen year old male. Personality, extremely confident and candid. Favorite motto: Honesty is the best policy. You've got too many morals to take advantage of a sick or unconscious person, male or female."

Dark blanched, "Are you some kind of messed up stalker? Man… you really are creepy."

Satoshi grimaced. "If you really must know, it's in the school files. Better a safe dog, than a dead lion."

Right as he walked out of the doorway, the prodigy swore he heard Dark mutter something, but brushed it off.

Meanwhile, Daisuke was dreaming of the Harada twins who had suddenly transformed into solid granite decorations.

* * *

**(1) **Once, I was passing by the detention hall on my way home and saw this one guy reading a Playboy magazine behind a World History book. _…. Awkward….._

**AN**: Reviews are loved, cherished, and framed (in my heart). So do it! If you do, then I promise to update within this month. After this week, no finals and no stress (not that I get any) for a while. Free time! Yayy. I didn't really leave this at much of an interesting cliffhanger. There also wasn't very much DaixDark action in this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one! That one has a lot..

**Fun Fact:** So I was surfing the net and then I found this **hilarious **quiz. Thaat's right. THE SEME/UKE QUIZ!!!  
Apparently, I'm a 'Don't fuck with me Seme'. Here's the info below.  
Possibly the most easily misunderstood Seme personality - the dark intense eyes of the DFWM Seme silently penetrating deep into your true motives is enough to frighten most away. Only those with a taste for playing with danger, and a craving for sensual punishment, would approach willingly into this fire. Intensely possessive and serious, this Seme is driven by challenge - and the thrill of the hunt, capture, and physical dominance over their partner in their shared game of power and submission. And despite this Seme being silent (unless provoked into anger) and more of a loner, once they've found the right partner - someone who can match their intensity and darkness - they are deeply protective, loyal, and sensual.

Damn.. That's deep. Haha.


	5. The Missing Chapter 5

**Warning: **Information on a Questionnaire that could earn you a giftfic.**  
Disclaimer:** Everything here is mine!

...  
Except for the DN Angel characters. Ehehehe..

* * *

**Chapter Five:** "The Missing Chapter Five"

* * *

Welcome. As you may have noticed, this isn't a real chapter. WAIT! Don't fast forward juust yet. Because in this chapter, I'm announcing information about a questionnaire. The winner of the questionnaire will indeed, receive a gift fic of their choice. There will be three winners. The first if for the most questions answered correctly, the second is for the person who has reviewed the most, and the third is for the person who completes the questionnaire first. Yeah yeah. Whatta cheap way to get a review. I know! xD But it's things like this in life that make people try?

The purpose isn't just to see who's been paying attention to the story, but for my own understanding that my readers are actually comprehending it. Reading isn't just about words that make you laugh, cry, and growl with anger. To me, I've always thought an excellent book was where the readers actually become part of the story, predicting and thinking about what the character's going to do next. I've gotten some really nice reviews that say "OMG THIS IS AWESOME!" or "This is so funny!" I really do enjoy those reviews, but they don't really show me that they're really _reading_ it.

Anyways, here are some bonuses for the winner's prize fic.

Not only do they get that prize, but they also get one for their birthday and Christmas. Yayy!

As long as the requested story is about something I know about (Like DN Angel, Naruto, Harry Potter, etc etc), I'm willing to do up to five chapters for that story. They can pick the pairings (straight, yaoi, or yuri) and the plot as long as I have a free range of creativity. If the winner does not have a specific plot, but just want a certain pairing, all they have to do is PM me what category they want (ex: romance, tragedy, horror, drama) and abracadabra.

ALSO, because of my horrible updating abilities that seem to have spawned from other ffwriter's influence, the winners can both decide on my updating schedule, just for this story. So long as it's possible. Two days is not humanely possible for a 3-4k word story. Yeah.

The deadline for the questionnaire answers ends on April 25th, 2009. That's almost a month.

Now, let the questionnaire start! (And of course, they're about Just Twenty Centimeters Away, my profile [a bit biased, but hey! You've got internet access and with multiple tabs, it'll be easy!] and the actual DN Angel manga series.)

Please submit your answers in either a PM or review.

**Question Eight is a spoiler for the actual manga series! Please! Don't do the questionnaire if you absolutely have not read the latest chapters!!**

Let the games being!

-Questionnaire-

1) What is Daisuke's last name? (I swear, if you don't get this right, I'll pop out of your computer screen and eat you! RAWR)

A) Naoko  
B) Nima  
C) Niwa  
D) Nida

2) What is Satoshi's least favorite insult said to him by Dark?

A) Weirdo  
B) Freaky  
C) Loser  
D) Creepy

3) What is my favorite pairing in DN Angel?

A) Daisuke and Satoshi  
B) Dark and Daisuke  
C) Daisuke and Krad  
D) Satoshi and Dark

4) Who is the author of DN Angel?

A) Yumiro Satomi  
B) Yukiri Sadako  
C) Yukiru Sakagawa  
D) Yuusuke Sakagi

5) What object did Dark drop that Satosh picked up? (Just 20 CM Away Question)

A) A red plushie  
B) A red gumdrop  
C) A red pen  
D) A blue gumbrop

6) What are the occupations of Dark's parents?

A) Archaeologists  
B) Lawyers  
C) Detectives  
D) Serial Killers

7) What is Daisuke deathly afraid of? (And if you can provide a reason, even though I haven't mentioned it in the story yet [of course there's a reason for that], extra points!)

A) The outside air  
B) Night time  
C) Sunlight  
D) Blue haired people

8) **WARNING! SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't been able to find the next chapters of DN Angel after volume ten, or something like that, go to mangafox[dot]com and search for it. Seriously. It's there, and I don't want to spoil it for you.**

What is the new occupation of Argentine after he meets Emiko?

A) Museum Caretaker  
B) Secretary  
C) Doorman  
D) Butler

9) (Back to Just 20 CM Away) What object does Daisuke mysteriously receive?

A) A special notebook  
B) An expensive drawing pad  
C) A set of high quality coloring pencils  
D) A book on How to Beat ADHD

10) Who attempts to visit Daisuke when he's sick?

A) Risa  
B) Satoshi  
C) Dark  
D) Riku

11) What am I addicted too? (From my own page!)

A) Heroin  
B) Fanfiction Stories  
C) Books  
D) Little children

12) What was the first fanfiction story I wrote?

A) The Truth Doesn't Always Set You Free  
B) Just Twenty Centimeters Away  
C) Breakpoint  
D) She uploaded them all at once.

13) Where do Krad and Dark meet to exchange items? (J20CMAway)

A) Children's Library  
B) Cosplay Cafe  
C) Dark's House  
D) School Rooftop

14) What is the item Dark pours on Daisuke's head?

A) Beer  
B) Sake  
C) Juice  
D) Water

15) While sick, what does Daisuke basically survive off of?

A) Cheese Sticks  
B) Water  
C) Bread  
D) Noodles

16) What age was Daisuke when something "tragic" happened to him?

A) Five  
B) Eight  
C) Seven  
D) Six

17) What does Dark do in the beginning of Just 20 CM Away to stop Risa from crying?

A) Stick a lollipop in her mouth  
B) Kiss her  
C) Promise to take her on a date  
D) Publically insult the teacher

18) How would Daisuke react if Dark suddenly moved away?

A) Regret- He'd always feel guilty to shoving Dark away.  
B) Anger- How could Dark leave him after stealing his first kiss!  
C) Happy- The bastard Dark? Gone? P-A-R-T-Y!  
D) Weird- A mixture of all the emotions, plus other ones.

19) What does Satoshi think of Dark?

A) Stupid  
B) Annoying  
C) Interesting  
D) Dangerous

20) This isn't a multiple choice question, but a 'short response' if you will.

What do you like the most about the story so far, and why?  
What do you hate the most, and why?

* * *

Yeah, a bit too cliché and amateur-ish, but I'm eager for answers.

Thank you, thank you. And enjoy the next chapter which is an ACTUAL chapter with more drama and DaixDark fluff.


	6. Transgression

**Warning: **yaoi(boyxboy), drama, a light lime (which, in the not so distant future, will change =] ), mild cursing.**  
Disclaimer: **Daisuke may not be mine. Dark may not be mine. Krad and Satoshi may not be mine. But I DO have…  
Ehh. I got nothing. xD**  
A/N:** I've got a few things to say. But first of all, let's thank all the lovely readers who posted a review. WOOO! You get this chapter dedicated to you all! And while I'm on the subject of reviews…

I'd like to personally thank Roki for that excellent **review**. Assuming Roki is a girl, since 80% of all fanfictioners are girls and most of them read yaoi, I wanted to thank her for giving me well-though out constructive criticism. For the most part, I was completely unaware than some people found the constant use of Japanese words being integrated with my writing distracting. I read through my stories and realized I really did overuse the words. Like bishies, kawaii, and all that jazz. That, and my apparent method of restating things. My bad. For my future stories/chapters, I'll keep that in mind and try to limit excessive usage that might interfere with your enjoyment of this story. Since she posted anonymously, I couldn't send a PM to her, but this'll work for now. If you have anything that's a little pet-peevish to you about my writing, send me a **review**. Or if you just want to comment about stuff**. Review **always make me happy. Especially constructive ones like Roki's.

If you go back to the previous chapter, you'll find a questionnaire. The winner will receive a gift fic. Yup, that's right boys and girls! So click on the sign for information!  
Oh, and apologies for the super long Author's Note. Now… ONTO THE STORY! :D

* * *

**Chapter Five**: Transgression

* * *

"_Once upon a time. Those four words was the little girl's favorite phrase. She absolutely loved it when her mom or dad read her the glossy colored books that filled the shelves of her room. She also loved something else. _

_Though they were both boys, the girl couldn't help but call them her best friends. They filled her thoughts each morning when she awoke to the light chirps of the bluebirds that sang their melodies, and every night before soft soothing sleep claimed her body, but never her mind._

_Their friendship had started not in the manner of friends at first sight, but rather shaky. They all met a dinner party where the three had accidentally collided into each other on the way to see fireworks. Needless to say, an argument was started but it ended with just the three playing with a few spare firecrackers behind an alley. The candid moment was what kept them together and they became inseparable, bonded tighter then the light and dark._

_Through the eyes of a seven year old, it seemed like the world was perfect. Morning were spent at school, waiting for the single bell to ring before the afternoons exploded with lazy half-effort wades in the private creek that only a special few knew about. Nothing but adventure filled the innocent, enthralling days._

_But as the girl grew from a naïve child into a long haired teenager who had just begun to realize how cruel the world was. Those quiet lethargic days had vanished and she noticed her life had changed so rapidly, she had almost completely missed the turning point._

_There was one fact she knew for sure though. There was only one cause for all of the problems that surrounded her._

_War was the red traffic light that stopped her from moving on. It filled the newspaper headlines with death rates, casualties, pain, sob stories, and suffering._

_It stopped education. School shut down out of fear from bombing, and because almost all the young men were drafted. Teachers had quit to return to their families, or to join the cause._

_Most of all, it ruined families. One day, the girl's father decided it was time to help his country. The mother refused to let him go, but the man had already made his decision. The farewell was short and tearful, leaving many things unsaid and inexorable tears flowing from both parties. A few days after the father's departure, a golden envelope arrived while the girl was buying groceries. Following the two funerals she attended, she kept her emotions hidden in a well within her heart and never cried. However, she spent the next week locked in her own house and when she came out, she was never the same. _

_The sorrow the girl had felt was unbearable. Many times, she attempted to end the suffering and pain. Each time, a sour bitterness overcame her and nausea forced her to the ground. The only way she could cope was to fight and eventually, her will to survive broke the twist. _

_Once upon a time. Those once beloved four words had become a tainted seed in the girl's heart and she began hating it for the first time. _

_Finally, the girl made a choice. With her two best friends who had somehow managed to avoid joining the battle, she was going to end the war."_

_--  
_

Ms. Sasajima ended abruptly, startling the engrossed class.

"Aww, Sasajima-sensei? What happened next?" Risa asked, frowning while twirling her chocolate hair in knotted strands before releasing it.

"Yeah!" interrupted a few students. They sulked, "You didn't even tell us what the name of the story was!"

Satoshi cleared his voice as soft as he could yet somehow, the entire class turned to him. Probably because Dark was absent and thus the DMFC (Dark Mousy Fangirls Club) focused on the other dashingly handsome males in the room, and the fact that Satoshi almost never talked unless something interested him was being discussed.

In a short second, Satoshi's eyes met Ms. Sasajima's, and the two agreed tacitly. The teacher nodded her affirmation and returned to her desk. The class stared with wide eyes and disbelieving stares are Satoshi began talking.

"The story was written in 1924 after the Empathy War which was instigated by accident when a man raped a woman from the rivaling town. Due to the man's relations to the mayor of that town, he was not sentence properly and faced a five month imprisonment in jail rather than the death penalty. For that, the two cities got into an argument that eventually spread across the entire nation, causing countless deaths.**(1)**"

Satoshi stopped talking long enough to take a minute sip of water before continuing. "What Ms. Sasajima just read was just a short excerpt from the book 'Now I Ascend' by Derick Fer as a fiction novel. Surprisingly, the facts in the story and description were accurately placed throughout the book and gained instant popularity as it spread throughout the world."

The bell chimed just as Satoshi finished and there was a solitary pause before students began packing up and leaving.

"Your homework for tonight is to buy the book and read it before next week!" Ms. Sasajima shouted over the rustling of papers and zippers being pulled.

The only student who did not immediately leave the classroom was Daisuke who stared blankly outside the window. He had completely ignored everyone and everything today, not intentionally though. It was because what happened yesterday had begun its _rinse, cycle, and repeat_ in his head.

His body mechanically got up ten minutes after everyone had left and walked errantly around. If anyone had bothered to stick near Daisuke long enough, they would've seen through his glassy eyes a small chibi Dai-chan running around his brain screaming, "Damn it. Damn it. Damn it! Why do these things keep happening to me!"

-- Yesterday --

There was a reason why Daisuke liked Sundays. It was part of the weekend which meant he didn't have to wake up early or do homework. But most of all, he enjoyed the extra hour of sleep.

Sure, Daisuke was an early riser, but that wasn't by choice. Thanks to his crazy mother and her strict regime, Daisuke got the barest minimum of the eight hour sleep required by a growing boy. That's why every year, whenever his mom left with Towa for some random event, such as the Super Grocery Sale, Daisuke slept in as long as he could.

A feeling of comfort completely engulfed Daisuke, only to trickle away once the blanket slowly slid off of him. Shivering, he snuggled closer against the source of the warmth.

Or at least he tried to.

Instead, something wrapped around his body and pulled him against something firm and warm. For some strange reason, his pillow smelled unusually enticing. Drawn in by the fragrance, Daisuke inhaled deeply. The aroma was delicious and he could almost practically taste it. It wasn't sweet, but rather, a calm soothing scent that made him feel completely at ease. Daisuke decided, with a content sigh, he liked it and immediately began to burrow his face deeper into her pillow.

"Mhm…"

Scarlet eyes suddenly shot open and blinked. To his knowledge, pillows weren't supposed to make sounds, much less groaning.

Daisuke's already enormous eyes somehow widened as his hand slowly crept along his "pillow's" exterior. Pillows also weren't supposed to be firm and warm. They were supposed to be soft, silky, and cool to the touch!

Suddenly, he felt something soft and sleek and sighed in relief. Maybe he had accidentally uttered the sound as a result of such a high level of relaxation.

He drifted back in a somewhat half-conscious state, sliding his hand down the cushion. On its way down, his hand brushed against something strange.

An unrestrained groan emitted from nearby and Daisuke knew it was definitely not him, or the pillow. Why? Because Daisuke happened to see his pillow lying on the floor out of his peripheral vision.

Once again, Daisuke had his fingers slowly roamed across whatever he was prostrated on and a soft giggled escaped the original source of the groan.

Daisuke's heart began to pound furiously, beating faster and faster as clues began to add up, and not in the one plus one equals two. It was more like a the realization of a third rooted three squared with another square root of three that had been simplified wrong, and suddenly the answer was slammed in.

One. Since his pillow was lying on the ground, that meant he was not sleeping on his pillow. Two. He had just noticed his head was slowly rising up and down, and by no means was that an involuntary action. Three. Pillows didn't talk. Call him schizophrenic, but he knew that pillows undoubtedly did not talk. And last, but definitely not least, were the stray strands of long hair that Daisuke had mistaken as the pillow's cover.

Though the room was dark, Daisuke could at least see the outline of a body wrapped over and around him.

_Oh. My. God. I've finally done it! I've finally been laid_! a voice screamed in Daisuke's head. In his mind, there was no doubt that the body next to him was a girl. After all, long hair plus Daisuke obviously being a male equaled two bodies in a bed despite the alarm clock that read twelve P.M. The only conclusion that Daisuke's brain was that he, Daisuke Niwa, the most awkward and clumsiest boy in the entire class had now become a man! No long would he be called baka or makeinu. Instead, he'd be…

W-wait.. No… But that meant.

_SHIT! I just lost my vir… vir.. vir… er…. I JUST GOT MY SEXUAL DEBUT!_

Daisuke nearly shrieked as his eyes somehow widened even further, threatening to pop from their sockets.

What… what if he got a girl PREGNANT?? Countless ideas of little babies with Daisuke's red hair and a myriad of eye colors streamed through his brain.

"Oh no…"

As if to taunt him even further, Daisuke's mind supplied him with a few scenarios.

"Daddy!! Nii-chan is eating my pocky!!! Make him stop!!!!"

"Dad! Can I _puh-_lease go to the mall today? Like, Ai-chan, has the prettiest little purse EVER! I want it I want it I want it!!!"

"Father, I'm sorry to say this as a sixteen year old girl, but I'm pregnant."

"Dada!"

"DAD!"

Daisuke blanched. He was NOT ready to have little kids running around the house. Much less pregnant teenagers.

Shit oh shit oh shit shit shit! Daisuke panicked. Blood that had rushed to his face now quickly drained out. He definitely had to make sure the girl was alright first! After all, what if she was the bearer of his babies?

He shifted his weight over from one side to the other, wincing at a loud creak came from the bed. Without warning, an arm shot over and around Daisuke's side, pulling him closer.

"W-wha.. oh my god!"

The body next to Daisuke was certainly not female. Especially since as far as Daisuke was concerned, women's fronts were much broader. And the male whose arm had pulled Daisuke down and hand was currently resting on his ass happened to be a certain annoying neighbor.

Ding ding ding! A free Dai-chan plushie to whoever thought it was—

--"DARK!"

The said teen opened his bleary eyes to find a hyperventilating, tomato-red Daisuke on the verge of falling off the bed.

In a swift movement, he caught Daisuke neatly before pulling him underneath the covers.

"W-what the… g-g-get off! Get off of me you pervert!"

Indeed. Dark was straddling Daisuke's hips, effectively pinning both of the redhead's arms over his head with a single hand. Daisuke's face had somehow managed to darken even further as Dark slowly bent his face closer and closer…

…before resting his own forehead against Daisuke's. Daisuke slowly opened his tightly screwed eyes, only to be mesmerized by the deep swirling pools of amethyst that stared back.

"Uhh, Dark?"

Dark blinked and whispered, "Good. No fever," before falling asleep on top of the poor redhead.

Daisuke was forced to squirm and struggle against Dark's dead-weight body for almost an hour until he managed to free himself.

--Present--

Daisuke scowled, stomping around a fountain in the park.

"Stupid Dark! Stupid perverted jerk!"

His furious rampage grew as he picked up speed, almost sprinting around the watermark before he crashed into a bystander.

"Ughh…"

"My. It would be preferable if you would at least lift your head up when walking."

Daisuke quickly stood up and bowed deeply. "Ack! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to crash into you!"

He stayed in to the bowing position until the fallen figure stood up.

Lifting his eyes ever so slightly, Daisuke gawked unabashedly.

He swallowed hard, attempting to muffle the gasp that wanted to leap from his throat. My god. This woman had an excellent body. Hell, she made models look like Takeshi in comparison.

Long tresses of silky golden hair flowed evenly around the cream colored trench coat the person donned. From underneath the slits of the coat was a pair of dark leather pants that clung loosely around the long, slender legs.

The redhead sighed in relief at the stranger's visage. The pale feminine face had suffered no more than a slight scratch on the left cheek. Light golden eyes, not at all unlike a cat's, peered curiously at the boy.

"Ahh! Sorry miss! Y-your coat' dirty now!" Daisuke stuttered. "Please allow me to clean it!"

The long haired stranger smiled. "I didn't know polite children still existed."

Daisuke refused to pull up his head, ignoring the fact that his ears were turning a bright red color. Strange. The woman's voice was a lot deeper than he had imagined.

"Wow," whistled the blond whistled. "Nice, polite, _and _modest. So lucky to have caught a good catch."

Daisuke's back suddenly straightened and he stared at the person in front of him with widening eyes.

"N-no. You mean… M-mo-molesto…"

"Kidding!"

The redhead almost fell over in what would've been a comical fashion.

"Don't worry kiddo," chortled the woman. "I'm not a perverted idiot like a certain idiot I know, and god forbid what he'd do to innocent little elementary school children like you."

Daisuke's face turned a dark shade of scarlet for yet another millionth time in the past twenty four hours.

"Excuse me," he nearly retorted, puffing up his chest. "But I'm actually a high school student. Fifteen years old."

The said blonde woman did not drop her jaw in shock like Daisuke predicted. Nor did she peer at the boy with her pale Rather, she grinned and patted his head.

"Of course you are! Everyone's fifteen at some point. You just need to wait maybe, seven more years?"

Flustered, Daisuke tried to interrupt. "But I really am fi-"

"It's okay kid. By then, you'll probably look really cute!" continued the woman, completely ignoring Daisuke's rant. She frowned, pausing in mid-sentence. "Not to insult that you don't look cute already, but everything gets better with age. Except milk. Yeck."

"I wasn't lying though! I AM a fi-"

"And cheese. Yogurt. Hm. Basically all dairy products."

"I'm complete serious ma'am. I am indeed, a fift-"

"And gum actually tastes pretty stale after a while. Don't even get me started on seafood."

Sighing deeply, Daisuke gave up. He shook his head, completely exasperated.

The blonde looked at a pocket watch and exclaimed, "Crap. I mean, uh, don't repeat that little boy. I actually said uhm…. crabs! Yeah! I'm late for some crabs! Time to go! But before I leave, can I get your name?"

Daisuke beamed. "Niwa. Daisuke Niwa. And you Miss?"

The said woman returned a crooked smirk. "Hikari Krad."

Daisuke suddenly gulped at the uneasy feeling pulling at his insides.

_Krad? Isn't that a guy's name?_

"FYI," Krad shouted, already a good hundred meters ahead. "I have penis!"

Daisuke stared after the running figure, words replaying in his mind.

Since girls did not equal penis, and penis equaled boy. Krad equaled penis and therefore…

Krad equaled boy.

At that point, Daisuke finally lost it. He screamed a string of words that a even the most shadiest seven year old wouldn't have known before punching the lamp post hard enough to leave a dent.

---

Krad chuckled as he loped across the streets of Azumano. So amusing was the red-haired boy that he had completely ignored the stares of heavy lust from bystanders, male and females alike.

That sort of naïve, blissful ignorance was to be envied. It was something similar to a natural born talent. That level of complete innocence was usually lost as children matured, but something about Daisuke was insanely optimistic. It was as if some sort of heavenly glow surrounded the boy, making him impervious to the evils around him.

Krad sighed. He looked up at the restaurant sign and a faint grimace curving his lips.

The doorman graciously accepted Krad's coat, eyebrows raising slightly at the dust concentrated around the back area.

Krad frowned. "I take it your job is to only wait upon the customers, not gawk unprofessionally. Or am I mistaken?"

The man shuddered at the icy tone that colored Krad's voice. All humor had completely vanished, replaced by dark intent.

"I'm terribly sorry sir. You are quite correct."

Krad narrowed his eyes, a heavy aura freezing the mood. The doorman backed away a few steps, unhidden fear leaping into his eyes. The golden eyes had transformed into something sharper, promising nothing but eternal pain and suffering.

"Hey!"

The said blonde turned around and with an impassive tone, swiftly responded. "Yes?"

"Krad. No, Number Six. Number Two awaits your presence."

He nodded mechanically and followed the man, leaving the doorman who had stumbled, wheezing for air.

Krad shoved his hands in one of the many hidden pockets of his pants, whistling a listless tune. He jerked his head in recognition at the man sitting cross legged at the table, clutching a book in one hand, and a glass of scarlet wine in another.

He had kept Elliot-sama waiting long enough.

* * *

**(1)** I wonder if anyone makes this connection to World War One where Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Serbia and it escalated into a full out war? Personally, I wasn't thinking of the similar situation while I wrote it but it just occurred to me after I re-read it (to check for any mistakes). Blehh. I want/need a beta. The need is much more than the want. Wow… That wasn't provocative at _all_. XD

**A/N (..another one):** See! See! I promised you a slight DaixDark bit and there it was!! **/slumps head/** Fail… Well, soooorrry. Haha. Daisuke's just a little confused right now. And Dark? Well, Dark's sleepy. But stay tuned for the next chapter. Cause there'll be actually CONSCIOUS Dark and Daisuke interaction. As well as a certain **/cough/** Satoshi and uhmm –ahem-. Yeah. You get the point. Here's a preview. 8D

Chapter Six: Bound

_The sound of absent silence. The quiet, yet ever so persistent buzzing of emptiness. It was moments like this Satoshi hated the most. _

_The atmosphere was already irritating enough without the said stillness, but Satoshi couldn't help but feel a rush of emotion flooding his mind and body as his pale fingers gently toyed with the golden ring around his left hand's middle finger. _

_---_

Hate me for the drama yet? Haha. In other news, there's probably going to be around 21 chapters more or less to go. But in a few more chappies, you'll get the full explanation on Daisuke's traumatic childhood.

Daisuke: ... Took you long enough.  
Mayu: B-bu-but, Daisuke! You're so injured! A-and confused!  
Dark: Shaddup. Where's my lemon? Huh??  
Daisuke: D-d-dark!! -blushes furiously-  
Mayu: Hahaha...uhhh Oh, look! Yaoi magazines!  
Dark: Huh, where???!! -looks around-  
Satoshi: You idiot, she's gone.  
Dark: Damn you Mayuuu! I'll just have to take control myself then! -grins lewdly-  
Daisuke:W-what? You mean...  
-Error. Daisuke and Dark were unable to participate in this conversation due to strenuous activities in which both enjoyed thoroughly.-


	7. Bound

**A/N:** Sorry for the late update guys. Apparently, my teachers have some sort of tacit agreement to make me, the professional no-stress slacker who still manages to get by with more A's than B's, work hard. I had two major tests today and a one-hundred point project due that was assigned only a few days ago. On top of that, I'm a badminton player. JV Doubles Two. Not bad for a freshie. xD But my school's one of the top in the lovely state of California, winning CCS a few times, so I have quite a big shoe to fill. We had a game on Thursday and yeah. But enough excuses. Let's get onto the story.

But before that! –ignores of groans and annoyed veins throbbing on many temples- I'd like to announce the prize winners. Remember, the categories? For a quick recap, the first is for the most questions answered correctly, the second is for the person who has reviewed the most, and the third is for the person who completes the questionnaire first.

The winners are:  
**AnonymousVoid** – Reviewed the Most  
**munnins-memory** – (Technically, AnonymousVoid WAS the first one to complete the questionnaire, but I kind of updated around 1 AM. She should've been the first one to complete it, but due to the late time frame, she didn't. And I promised three winners, so there!)  
ANND **cheshire-writer** – most accurate. (She missed only one, and that was a trick question.)

I guess I did make the quiz a bit too hard. Ehehhe. If you want to know the answers to the quiz, I'll post them at the end of the chapter. Anyways, NOW we go onto the story.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Bound**

* * *

The sound of absent silence. The quiet, yet ever so persistent buzzing of emptiness. It was moments like this Satoshi hated the most.

The atmosphere was already irritating enough without the said stillness, but Satoshi couldn't help but feel a rush of emotion flooding his mind and body as his pale fingers gently toyed with the golden ring around his left hand's middle finger.

While it was true that Satoshi Hiwatari was not sociable person in school, the male couldn't help but attract girls like fans to a Big Bang concert **(1)** with his almost perfect looks and mysterious demeanor. In fact, it was a well known fact that in Kindergarden, a nice girl tried to befriend him with sweet smelling handpicked flowers, only to have them brutally crushed under the harsh heels of the young boy's shoes.

"Why Hiwatari-kun? Why would you do such a thing?" the little girl had sobbed, tears flowing in a seemingly never ending river.

The young Hiwatari sharp eyes seemed to stare past her before he answered hollowly, "This world has no need for such useless things."

The words had sounded much too old for a five year old to say, yet he continued to scare away any admirers with a single look. With such a dark attitude and a poker face that even five Ph D psychologists could not break, Satoshi managed to keep anyone and everyone away. That was, until the first grade when clumsy redhead entered the doors of his school. Actually, it was more like a crash and shouts of pain and disbelief that broke the impassive mask.

---

Satoshi Hiwatari. Five point oh GPA, highest tested IQ in the entire district, and probably the only student who had ever won the infamous 'Hottest Boy Award' for all the years he had been, well, alive.

Satoshi Hiwatari. The boy who was bored out of his mind. He was finding this pathetic excuse for a school tiring. The days were completely monotonous without a single speck of amusement.

Fortunately for him, unlike most days, this one started with a bang. Quite literally speaking.

"Ow ow ow!!" shouted a light voice.

"HAHA." Well, that was Saehara Takeshi. Possibly the most annoying, but uncanny kid the school would ever see. "Man, this new kid's just too damn funny!"

"Hey! Don't curse. And my name's not 'the new kid'," the said new kid retorted indignantly, shock coloring his tone.

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because it's wrong!"

"Says who?"

"Say the teacher." A cool swift female voice interrupted, "Nice to see you making new friends Takeshi."

A loud choking sound gurgled its way out of Saehara's throat.

"H-hey… Uh, what's up?"

"Detention, Takeshi. Today and tomorrow."

"WHAT?!"

"Mhmm. Let's make that three detentions in total. One for cursing, another for responding so rudely toward your teacher, and the last one for shouting."

Judging by the Saehara's past reactions, the horribly-timed child was probably withholding a rather loud groan.

"Okay class, please settle down and welcome our new student," the teacher announced. "Let's welcome the new student Niwa Daisuke."

"H-hello!" the redhead stammered. "P-please take care of me!"

A few students snickered loudly, smirking knowingly at one another. Even the angelic smiles they wore couldn't hide the menace and mischief in their eyes.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen during lunch when the teacher left, and Satoshi didn't care. He didn't need to make any fruitless connections to people, especially weaklings who wouldn't be able to stand up for themselves.

As predicted, once the lunch bell rang and the teacher had left the room, Daisuke quickly found himself surrounded.

"Hey new kid, nice to meet'cha. The name's Shinji," said a rather tall light haired boy.

The redhead bowed calmly, completely unaware of the danger he was in. "Nice to meet you as well. Please don't call me the new kid. My name's Daisuke Niwa. But Daisuke's fine."

Shinji laughed loudly. "Did you hear that guys? Looks like _Daisuke_ wants to be our friend."

The other boys laughed as well, slowly advancing on the smaller boy.

"Since we're your new friends Daisuke, how's about you give us some payment?" Shinji added, grinning slightly. "You know, cause we're friends."

Satoshi frowned. Hardly an half a day of school had passed, and the short redhead was already a prime target for bullies. This was such a trithe moment that Satoshi found himself paying a lot more attention to the situation than he normally would've.

Large scarlet eyes blinked in surprise. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't have any money. My parents don't give me an allowance."

Shinji smirked, eyes crinkling in raw mischief. "Oh? Well, looks like we're in a bit of trouble here. If you don't pay us, we can't protect you from any enemies."

At last, Daisuke gulped as realization dawned on him. "I r-really can't p-pa-"

Without warning, a sharp pain ran down Daisuke's spine. Shinji and another boy had shoved him against the blackboard, pressing him against the metal railing.

"Shinji. Don't be such a bastard."

Shinji quickly turned around to find Saehara sitting on a desk, staring with a deep disgust.

"Hey Takeshi. What's up man?"

Takeshi growled, "Don't you fucking what's up man me Shinji. I never gave you permission to call me by my first name."

Shinji unknowingly tightened his hold on Daisuke's arm, and the boy gave a small pained squeak.

The dark haired boy ground his teeth tightly before he demanded, "Let Niwa go."

Shinji smiled malevolently, continuing to half strangle the redhead.

"Or what Takeshi? What're you going to do about it?" he asked.

Saehara grinned toothily. He pulled out a small stack of paper and fanned himself with them.

"Oh, nothing much Shinji. It _would_ be pretty bad if word about Saku-baby got around eh?"

Shinji gaped unabashedly at Takeshi before quickly shutting his mouth. His grip on Daisuke's neck loosened and a healthy color quickly filled the pallor of the boy's face.

Thanks to close proximity, Satoshi was barely able to here Shinji's panicky words.

"Y-you! How do you kno-, I mean, who's Saku?"

Takeshi's eyes curved happily. "Ah, but wouldn't you know? She is, after all, your dearest love."

Shinji's face quickly drained of color before turning a bright red that resembled Daisuke's hair color. "H-how'd you…"

A blurred myriad of colors danced as Takeshi waved the photos around. "Never _ever_ underestimate a reporter, Shinji. If there's dirt, I'll dig it up faster than a convict escaping from jail. Now, if you'd excuse me and my friend…"

Shinji quickly nodded and shoved his friends aside, pushing Daisuke in front of Takeshi and left without another word.

Daisuke looked at the dark-haired boy with wordless wonder and appreciation. A small brush of pink lit up Takehi's face and he looked away, muttering, "Aww, don't look at me with those eyes."

"Thanks, Mister Saehara."

Takeshi gripped Daisuke's shoulders and stared into the innocent ruby eyes. "NEVER call me Mister Saehara. That's my dad. Call me Takeshi, okay? Just Takeshi."

Daisuke beamed, nodding in agreement. "Then thanks… Takeshi."

--

From that day, the two were inseparable. Six entire years slipped by with a fluid ease. Morning, lunch, afternoons. It seemed like nothing could break them apart. That was, until Takeshi got sick.

Then again, Satoshi thought idiots couldn't catch colds.

Every day for nearly his entire life, Satoshi ate two pieces of dry bread with a juice box as a lunch. It wasn't filling, but he didn't exactly enjoy eating. Somehow, it seemed like a profound waste of time.

During school lunches, Satoshi found himself observing the Daisuke and Takeshi sitting together, talking loudly and laughing. He was often amazed at the amount of food the redhead could consume in a single sitting. Even though Daisuke brought a five layered bento every day, he managed to finish off the whole box of food without Takeshi's help. And yet, the boy was almost skinnier than Satoshi himself!

That completely defied the laws of physics the genius had taken to heart.

Satoshi felt an unknown feeling which he could only describe as a burning curiosity toward the redhead. He had an incredibly bright smile, unpredictable behavior, a natural ability to make any one smile, and he never gave up no matter how utterly futile a situation was. Completely opposite of himself and yet, Satoshi knew he was being drawn to Daisuke.

Still, there was something completely off about the way Daisuke reacted sometimes. His achluophobia, fearful look when someone tapped him on the shoulder, and even the forced smile that seemed so real to others, while Satoshi found it frightening. It was almost as if…

He refused to finish the thought.

It was impossible. No one could ever survive _that_ and live on with a smile that could outshine even the gloomiest circumstance.

But if there ever was someone… it would have to be Daisuke.

But even when Takeshi had been bedridden for weeks when his cold had escalated into pneumonia, Daisuke's smile never faded. However, it did seem more forced as the days went on.

On a seemingly random day, Satoshi sat alone in the art room, staring at his 'sandwich.' For some reason, he found the two pieces of bread extremely irritating.

Although the first piece of bread refused to go down without the other, Satoshi wasn't hungry enough to eat both pieces.

His mind had been so concentrated on his lunch that he didn't notice a slender body silently place itself beside him until something tapped his shoulder.

Had Satoshi been like any other student, he would've jumped five feet in the air and yelped so loud that aliens on Pluto (which has been stripped from its ranks of being a planet) could here. Of course, being the stoic, impassive boy that he was, Satoshi merely turned around and raised his eyebrow a fraction of an inch.

"Yes Niwa-san?" he asked, half annoyed and half genuinely curious. School bullies didn't dare to go near Satoshi once they realized his reputation and power, but this wimpy little kid had the courage to poke him. Satoshi had to admit, he was thoroughly impressed by the redhead's antics.

The redhead suddenly burst into a smile, unconsciously giving himself a soft glow. "Would you like some Nutella with your bread?"

Satoshi blinked. "Nut..ella? Is that nut paste?"

At first Daisuke gawked disbelievingly at the pale youth. Seconds passed before an untimely giggle erupted from the boy's mouth. Without warning, laughs and sounds of choking filled the art room, bringing life to the otherwise dead room.

"Ha ha so- ahh ry," Daisuke managed to squeeze out. "I haven't laughed like this for a long time."

Then almost exactly at the same instant he stopped laughing, tears flowed freely from the wide scarlet eyes.

"Eh? What's this?" Satoshi stared as the boy put a hand to the bridge of his nose and wipe away tears. "I'm crying?"

Daisuke brought a handkerchief out of his pocket and quickly wiped his face with it. Satoshi noted the hideously dark piece of cloth had been used continually without being properly washed and now hardly had any effect on the boy.

"Sorry about that," Daisuke mumbled. "I laughed so hard, tears just started falling out of their own accord."

Satoshi nodded though his calculating mind screamed _LIAR_. "Understandable. But the business about the Nutella?"

"Oh! No offense to you or anything, but everyone says you're something like a genius. I'm not trying to stereotype, but since your English was the highest in our grade, I mean highest grade in our class, I assumed you go overseas to the States. Contrary to popular belief, Nutella is actually chocolate paste. Not nut paste. That's kinda gross. Or maybe not. I've never really tried it."

Satoshi nearly smiled. This mixed up jumble of words had probably been spewed as a last minute answer. And judging by the blush that heated the redhead's face, he had been correct.

"Uh…that didn't come out right!"

Satoshi reached out and Daisuke flinched, shielding not his face, but his body. With a cold, bitter satisfaction, the pale boy placed a piece of bread in Daisuke's hand.

"I'm willing to explore new possibilities."

Daisuke's smile returned on full blast, nearly blinding Satoshi. My god. Was this kid some sort of sun?

The smell of chocolate hit Satoshi's nose like a wet fish in the face. Satoshi calmly thanked the redhead and proceeded to take a bite out of the bread.

Much to his surprise, the chocolate spread wasn't too sweet. In fact, it was more like a balanced combination of nuts and pure cocoa that hung on the tip of his tongue before blending in with no longer dry bread. Satoshi found himself actually enjoying the exotically familiar taste.

Suddenly, lunch wasn't so bad after all.

"I'm sorry to leave so soon, but I promised the older Harada sister I'd help her bring the gym boxes to the shed house."

With that, the redhead was gone. Still, the aroma of pure sweetness and bliss hung lingering in the air.

For the first time in perhaps years, Satoshi's lips curved into a smile.

A week went by with the same routine. However, the tediousness of it had disappeared. Each day, Daisuke brought something completely different to school for Satoshi to add to his bread. And in turn, Satoshi realized he deeply enjoyed the spare secret minutes where he had Daisuke all to himself. But he knew that when Takeshi came back, this loose friendship would end. And when that happened, he would be utterly and completely alone again.

"Midget!"

"Saehara!" the redhead sniffed indignantly. "Don't call me that!"

The dark haired boy unceremoniously landed on top of Daisuke, nearly mashing the poor body into the floor.

Something raw and conflicted tore at Satoshi's chest as he quietly watched the reunion. A strange feeling clenched at his stomach. Before he realized it, the pale youth was sending his deadliest glare at the oblivious rugged boy.

It was quite a shame, really. If only looks could kill...

He let out a sigh and headed for the art room. Since there was nothing to anticipate, he might as well spend it doing something productive.

---

"Hey Takeshi!"

"Oi. Gokudera-kun. What'sup man?"

"Want to go watch Mio and the older Harada's show? They're having some sort of karaoke contest or sumthin'."

"Hell yeah!" Takeshi shouted, a toothy grin stretching from ear to ear. Without thinking, he grabbed the redhead's hand and began pulling the boy along. "Move it Daisuke! We've got some hot chicks to check out!"

"Sorry Sa-I mean Takeshi." Daisuke wretched his hand out of Takeshi's iron grip. He shook his head rooted his feet to the ground. "I'm having lunch with Hiwatari in the art room today."

"Woah. Seriously?" Gokudera goggled, dropping his jaw. "Do you mean Mr. Silent and Broody?"

Daisuke bit his cheek, nodding furiously.

Takeshi seemed to gauge his friend for a few seconds, a pensive expression marring his normally grinning visage. He ruffled his friend's messy strands of hair for a few seconds and slid a lanky arm around Daisuke's shoulders.

"Hey Gokudera! Save a seat for me!" Takeshi called out, walking with the scarlet-haired boy.

He yanked the art classroom door a bit too hard, causing it to crash violently against the wall. The thunderous bang did not so much as affect the impassive boy who sat against the wall.

Satoshi hardly blinked at Takeshi's blank expression, but he did raise an eyebrow at Daisuke.

"I need to talk to him for a little bit 'kay?" Takeshi said, gently shoving the shorter boy out of the room.

He closed the door and turned around, staring at

"So, you're Hiwatari-kun right?" Takeshi finally said, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Let me check my school I.D." Satoshi drawled sarcastically. "Of course I'm Hiwatari Satoshi. I'm the only Hiwatari in the entire district."

"You mean apart from Kei?"

To say that Satoshi's blood begun to boil was an understatement. He froze in place, completely rigid. From the very strands of his light hair to the slightly worn soles of the dark shoes, it was as if a statue had replaced the basic concepts that barely made Satoshi distinguishable from an empty shell.

"How do you know this...Saehara?"

Takeshi kept a steady gaze despite his urge to flinch. Though Satoshi had responded as if he was merely talking about the weather, something cold and hate-filled underlined his tone.

"Take care of Daisuke, will ya'?" Takeshi murmured, eyes averted. Surprise flickered across Satoshi's face before he caught himself. With all the subtle hints a jealous teenager would miss, he suddenly understood.

Takeshi wore a serious expression as he grabbed the blunette's hand and shook it.

"There! Now that we've shaken hands, you absolutely can't break a promise."

Satoshi nearly smiled at the kindergarten way of thinking. Since he had already been pulled in to this mind game, it wouldn't hurt to say one more thing, right?

"Thanks."

Takeshi suddenly broke into a grin, not unlike Daisuke's. "You're not that bad after all!"

---

Satoshi looked out of the window, watching grey cascade around the skies above. The rain had begun to beat harder, harsh pitter-patter sounds drowning out all the other sounds. The heavy mist made it nigh impossible to see beyond a few meters.

The limo silently stopped in front of a large, turquoise gate. A stale feeling churned within Satoshi as he read the symbols engraved perfectly on the slim bars blur into familiar words.

_Recall it all._

The gates unlocked with a loud creak, straining to untangle themselves from one another.

After driving down half a mile down the gravelly road, the vehicle stopped before a large mansion. An umbrella was lifted over the young Hiwatari's head as he exited the car through an already opened door. He nodded respectfully and accepted the brown package from the driver.

As he walked toward the doorway, a shudder ran down his frame. He lifted his eyes and found the source of his discomfort.

A tall, thin man with dull brown hair stood in the front of the doorstops. Arms open and dress-shirt messily tucked in, he would've been perfect as the part of a loving father. But Satoshi knew better. Behind that seemingly warm smile and friendly exterior, was something more foul than a rotting corpse.

Behind the thin, frameless glasses was a pair of dead eyes that watched carefully. A glint shone gleefully as words left the man's mouth.

"Welcome home."

Satoshi bowed, deep rancor welling up inside of him. He kept his face carefully devoid of all emotions before lifting his head. Pale hands extended, holding out the chocolate colored box. An acrid taste hung on his tongue as he struggled to release the words.

"Hello..._father_."

---

"Ugh... My freakin' head."

Dark swung his numb legs from underneath the warm covers. A faint sweet scent slowly sifted through the air, rising from the mattress. He inhaled deeply, a drowsy smile spreading across his face.

_Daisuke._

He really liked the redhead.

Why hadn't he figured it out earlier?

The redhead was a beacon of light and truth. He didn't just allow himself to be read like an open book, but he conveyed everything through his eyes. He was the epitome of everything innocent cheery.

The phone rang, cutting Dark off in mid-thought. Amethyst eyes snapped back to reality, landing on the ebony phone that sang a calm melody.

"Kraddy-kins, baby! How're you?" Dark asked, smirking over the phone. He had customized each contact so that a unique ringtone represented a different individual.

Silence. Not even the sound of breathing was heard from the other line.

Dark began to feel uneasy. Normally, Krad would respond by shouting an innumerable amount of profanities, but this lack of noise was new.

"Krad?"

Krad's voice whispered hoarsely, "Number 27's gone."

Dark laughed hollowly, discomfort eating away at his insides, tugging at his insides.

"Nice joke! That's real funny Krad."

Krad didn't answer, letting an agonizing stillness fill the air.

"Y-you're just playing me right?" Dark nervously chuckled. "Haha. Very funny. Just cut to the chase man."

"Krad?"

"...I'm sorry."

Krad's apology was never heard. A clatter of metal and plastic resonated through the room, fading to a low throb. By the time the broken phone pieces had stopped moving, Dark was long gone from the room.

* * *

**A/N**: Yay! My first character death!! I mean... no! Someone died. **Reviews** are nice. In fact, until my review count goes beyond 50 (which isn't that far away), I won't upload! JoKinggg. Ahahaa. But **review**ing would be nice. =]

Oh, and before I forget, here are the answers to the quiz! The ones with the asterisks were trick questions.

1) What is Daisuke's last name? (I swear, if you don't get this right, I'll pop out of your computer screen and eat you! RAWR)  
C) Niwa

2) What is Satoshi's least favorite insult said to him by Dark?  
D) Creepy

3) What is my favorite pairing in DN Angel?  
B) Dark and Daisuke

*4) Who is the author of DN Angel?  
None. It's actually Yukiru Sugisaki

5) What object did Dark drop that Satosh picked up? (Just 20 CM Away Question)  
C) A red pen

6) What are the occupations of Dark's parents?  
A) Archaeologists

7) What is Daisuke deathly afraid of? (And if you can provide a reason, even though I haven't mentioned it in the story yet [of course there's a reason for that], extra points!)  
B) Night time

8)What is the new occupation of Argentine after he meets Emiko?  
D) Butler

9) (Back to Just 20 CM Away) What object does Daisuke mysteriously receive?  
B) An expensive drawing pad

*10) Who attempts to visit Daisuke when he's sick?  
Notice I wrote _attempts_. D) Riku

11) What am I addicted too? (From my own page!)  
B) Fanfiction Stories

12) What was the first fanfiction story I wrote?  
A) The Truth Doesn't Always Set You Free

13) Where do Krad and Dark meet to exchange items? (J20CMAway)  
B) Cosplay Cafe

14) What is the item Dark pours on Daisuke's head?  
A) Beer

15) While sick, what does Daisuke basically survive off of?  
D) Noodles

16) What age was Daisuke when something "tragic" happened to him?  
C) Seven

17) What does Dark do in the beginning of Just 20 CM Away to stop Risa from crying?  
A) Stick a lollipop in her mouth

18) How would Daisuke react if Dark suddenly moved away?  
No true answer. Just wanted to know what you thought his feelings were.

19) What does Satoshi think of Dark?  
Same as above.

20) This isn't a multiple choice question, but a 'short response' if you will.  
Same as above too. ^^


	8. Encompassed Hope

**AN: **I know I haven't said this much, but thank you for all the reviews! You guys make me smile, write more, and very happy. Please see the note below (like way below) for my long absence. 0_o  
**Disclaimer:** I died because I threatened to steal Daisuke. Apparently, Dark didn't like that. He took out his magic feathers and stabbed me to death.

After up loading this chapter, Soulfightersu made a pretty good point. So...here's a quick recap of what has happened so far.

Daisuke meets the new student at school, Dark, who is basically sex on legs. Dark, angered by Satoshi's fuck-you-I-don't-give-a-shit attitude takes it out on Daisuke by playing pranks and mind games with the poor kid. While acting out the role of a womanizing pervert, Dark meets Krad at a cafe for some unknown reason and exchanges items. He then kisses Daisuke twice in the same day, but then he kisses Risa right afterward. Then Daisuke gets sick and Dark unwittingly takes care of him...leading to /gasp/ relationship development. Daisuke starts to realize he likes Dark (kind of) and runs out, meeting Krad. More events happen (I'm such a good summarizer...xD) and Dark gets a phone call from Krad who says Number 27 has died. And...this is it so far.

Hope it made sense so you're not totally lost on this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: **Encompassed Hopes

* * *

Normally, a soft breeze in a lazy summer day felt quite nice. Not only did the gust of air bring a slight temperature drop, but it also felt as if the wind was blowing a cool lullaby softly into one's ears.

Unfortunately for the occupants of the site, this wasn't the case.

The dry, harsh Sahara wind pelted them with sand, burrowing into the sensitive skin on their faces. While most workers wore clothes around their face as a mask, the ones who didn't felt the wrath of cracked skin and dry lips. Every time they tried to speak, the searing heat caught words in their throats and lips bleed, blood oozing in small beads.

They all had to work without goggles in order to spot fluctuations that they would otherwise miss. The seemingly insignificant ripples in sand could lead way to hidden tombs, treasures lost for centuries, and codes that carved out a piece of missing history.

The excitement and adrenaline that came from the job was all that Kousuke really wanted, but he had other agendas in mind.

Maybe in fifty, no sixty years when technology had advanced far enough to calculate precision and amount of objects would someone finally discover a certain number of artifacts were missing from each site.

Kousuke shrugged. After all, he was related to Japan's infamous phantom theif, if only by a marriage and child.

"Hey…_bzt_…we fo…d…som…th…"

"This is Black Falcon, over. Repeat your statement," he enunciated through the walkie-talkies. Kousuke blinked at the sudden loss of sunlight and deathly quiet. This sand storm was going to be a strong one.

The dull buzz of static murmured through the speakers until, "White Cloud in contact with Prime O1. We've found it, I repeat, we've found it."

The dark haired man smiled. Prime objective one, more commonly known as the _Tomb of Anubis_, had finally been found after twenty long, grueling months. After stumbling upon a small excerpt of an article, spending countless hours studying and taking down notes, Kousuke had found something rather interesting. Apparently, plagues and deaths had scared Egyptians to such an extent, a sacred tomb had been made in hopes of, quite literally, burying the god of death. Lost gold, unlimited rubies, and priceless treasures had been buried. However, an earthquake and sandstorms ravaged the land to such a point, the tomb was lost.

That was, until now.

Finally, a childhood dream of discovering a new world was complete. Kousuke felt a strange aura beam around him, hope and accomplishment flooding his heart.

Then, there was a snap. Small, nevertheless, it shot through the air and echoed. Suddenly, sand poured from the skies, swirling down on the workers, stray pieces biting into exposed skin.

Though most workers instantly dove facedown, hands protectively covering their necks, Kousuke stood, motionless with disbelief.

The simple ruby ring that sat on his left hand's index finger had cracked into a million veins, its iridescent light fading. Though the man had never been one for jewelry, this was a bit different.

Enclosed in the ring had been a single strand of his one and only son's hair. A feeling of omniment dread and fear shot through his body and Kousuke gulped.

"Get down, you damn foreigner," a worker shouted, slamming his worn body against Kousuke. Suddenly, Kousuke was aware of the blood running down the side of his face, piercing pain from the sand imbedded in his cheeks.

"I have to leave now," Kousuke mumbled into the walkie-talkies.

"W-what?" came the outraged cry. "You can't just leave us. If you do, your greedy partner'll take all the credit. Two years of effort and work, gone."

"My son, he-"

"He what?" the man cut in. "Kousuke, as your long time friend, I'm advising against this. I'm also advising you to stay. Are you really going to choose instinct over your life's ambition?"

Kousuke clenched his both of his fists. In the left with the ring and in the other was his life and purpose. An ironic chuckle left his throat. Funny how figurative speech had suddenly become realistic.

In a split second, Kousuke made his decision.

His left hand loosened and ring fell, swallowed by the endless sand.

---

The sounds of strained chirps floated through the window, reaching the sleeping figure's ears. The listless melody rang sweetly, slowly dragging a half-conscious mind back to reality. A finger twitched slightly, moving in a dream like state. A stream of sunlight shone through a slit in the heavy cream colored blinds. A burst of light struck the dazed boy's face as bleary eyes opened, effulgence nearly blinding them.

"Too...bright...." he groaned. An arm lifted, lazily shielding himself from the illumination. After a few seconds of contemplating whether he should get up or not, the boy kicked off the sheets and shot up from the warm caverns of his bed. He gingerly stuck a toe onto the floor and instantly recoiled.

Damn. He really needed to buy some slippers at some point.

He stood up, wincing as the heat concentrated at his feet was swept away by the icy floor. Absently, he walked over to the window and wrenched off the shades, smiling as the room turned a warm honeyed color.

Eyes looked hopefully into the sky, softening at the sight of pure cerulean and azure tipping the heavens above. Not a single speck of white dotted the blue and the sun shone with what seemed like an everlasting flow.

_Today_, Daisuke decided as he raked fingers through his crimson, lithe hair, _was going to be a really nice day._

---

"Daisuke!" a familiar voice shouted.

Daisuke turned his head and smiled warmly. "Good morning Riku. Haven't seen you for a while. How's school been so far?"

Riku blushed, averting her eyes from the redhead. "Nice to see you too! School's been pretty good. But not as interesting as last year I guess."

The two students walked together in silence, enjoying the peaceful morning breeze. A particularly strong gust of air scattered petals and matching sepals across the grounds.

"Uh, Daisuke?" Riku paused timidly. She stopped in midstep and appeared to have a very special interest in the ground.

Daisuke stopped, curiosity clutching his back. Or was it Riku's hands?

"Daisuke, I-I..." she trailed off, uncertain of what to say.

Daisuke waited quietly, a strange calmness brimming at the center of his being. For some reason today, he felt invincible. It was if anything could cross him and he'd be able to counter it, or at least twist it to his advantage. So he waited, body and mind already predicting what the brunette was going to say.

As the tension grew, Riku cracked up the pressure and suddenly, she couldn't bear it any longer. Words burst from her mouth in a "Daisuke...IthinkIlikeyou!"

Her face suddenly steamed, bright shade of scarlet staining her cheeks. She looked practically mortified and almost disgusted with herself for the confession.

With a pained pang of regret, Daisuke carefully blanked out his face before replacing it with a fake smile. He spun around, grabbing the girl's shoulders. Ruby eyes met chocolate ones as Daisuke answered, "Really? I like you too."

Riku's breath hitched and she smiled until she realized Daisuke wasn't done speaking yet.

"That's great. Let's be friends forever."

Riku's head snapped back as if stung and unconsciously tightened her grip on Daisuke's shirt. Then her grasp slackened and she released the redhead and backed away.

She hesitated, ignoring the churning feelings within her and sucked in a deep breath of air.

"Thanks, Daisuke." Riku fought back the tears that threatened to flow and her bottom lip quivered.

Without warning, something soft and warm slid over her shoulders and around her back. She blinked, shock short-circuiting her mind when she realized Daisuke was hugging her.

No words were exchanged and not a sound was made. Only a simple understanding filled the air of rejection. Through closed eyelids and tenderly wrapping arms around Daisuke, she silently thanked him. She savored the moment, knowing it would probably never happen again.

It would take weeks, perhaps months for her torn heart to heal, but there was no doubt about it. Even if it took forever, Daisuke would always be there for her with an open hand extended. And for that, she thanked him one more time.

_---_

As the Azumano students filed into class and settled into their seats, Daisuke felt sick. Half of it was from staying up all night watching Korean dramas which were really quite addicting, and the other was from anticipation of seeing Dark again.

The last time he had seen the playboy was a week ago when _that_ happened. Of course _that,_ referred to Dark passing out on top of Daisuke, leaving him in a rather uncomfortable situation.

Blood rose to his face and his cheeks darkened. Though Dark had skipped out on school, hence lack of contact, the image of tantalizing lips hanging barely a few centimeters from his lips was vividly burned in his mind.

_What am I going to say?_ Daisuke wondered, panicking. Possible responses, all ending with rather steamy circumstances erupted and the redhead willed himself to gain back control. _No! I'm not a pervert! I'm totally, absolutely, completely normal!_

Though Daisuke didn't know it at the time, 'normal' people of both genders had fallen for Dark. Later on, Daisuke would back on this and mentally strangle himself. That, and physically strangle Dark for a large number of reasons.

By noon, the brisk fall winds had scattered golden, tangerine leaves into a swirling dance. Warm sunlight filtered past the branches, drawing the world into an almost heavenly glow. Every detail, every fine line had been sharpened to a crisp, clear image. A halo of effulgence warped the school grounds, transforming it into something that would've been perfect for a painting.

Daisuke spun a pencil in his hand, grinning as images filtered through his head.

A loud smacking sound reached his ears before the pain did. Or maybe it was the other way around?

The redhead didn't know. All he knew was that a gleeful Saehara had pounced and attacked by whacking Daisuke's ears.

Daisuke growled lightly. Sure, he was a bit of an airhead at times, but it was starting to get annoying.

He walked over to Takeshi who, for the millionth time, had been busy asking out (and getting shot down) Mio Hio. The blonde haired girl waved back enthusiastically. It was a well-known fact that she had boldly stalked Daisuke for two years despite the faithful suitor she had since transferring schools from America. Her vigorous methods and unusual ninja like skills, such as appearing out of seemingly nowhere and moving from one place to another in a blink of an eye, had said to originated from training in a secret military program. But then again, rumors were rumors.

Daisuke winked at the amused blonde, lightly placing a slim finger over curved lips. He silently shuffled over to the babbling dark-haired boy, dragging an object off of a desk.

Then very slowly, he lifted his arm and swung.

"GYAHHHHHHHHH!"

An unearthly shriek filled the room as a blunt, hard object made its way up Takeshi's, well... Let's just say the reporter would have a hard time climbing trees for a while.

The occupants of the room stared first at the raven who writhed in agony, then at the blonde and redhead who had fallen on the floor, nearly choking with laugh.

Five minutes later found the trio sitting, or in Takeshi's case, laying in the grass, enjoying the sparse sunbeams.

"_Fuck_. Daisuke! My poor ass!" whimpered Saehara, gingerly and unabashedly feeling himself up front of the two. "I think you _tore_ something up there man!"

Mio only giggled louder. "Your virgin ass is probably taking it up a little too seriously. I mean, Daisuke only jabbed."

The raven had the audacity to blush darkly. "Aw princess! Why'dya gotta go and make fun of my sex life?"

"Or lack thereof," Daisuke added cheerfully. _No mercy,_ Evil Daisuke smirked.

Takeshi merely groaned in response. He slammed his forehead into the nearest hard object, namely the ground, and mumbled incoherently to himself for the next few minutes.

"You're both insufferable."

"Oo. Takeshi knows big words!"

"...Shut up."

Daisuke sighed, not unhappily. He grinned as Mio threw her lunch at Takeshi for "accidentally" touching her bosom.

Friends made life more interesting all the time.

---

School ended quickly as the afternoon passed almost instantaneously.

"Dai_suke?"_

The said redhead blinked, eyes focusing on a worried Mio Hio who waved her hands in an array of circles.

"Uh, hi?"

An arm swung around Daisuke's almost bony shoulders while the other hand focused on tweaking his ear.

"Don't 'hi' me! Live a bit more! You should be full of energy like all the other high school boys!" Mio exclaimed before proceeding to jump onto the boy's back. She then dug those ever so painful but fashionable pointy flats into his ribs and urged the 'pony' to run faster.

Daisuke winced as the blonde girl nearly crushed him in her grip despite being a good three inches taller than her. He really needed to work out at the gym more often.

"Reality check Mio. Takeshi's the only one who's super energetic. Everyone else is normal!"

Mio stubbornly stuck out her bottom lip and shoved two fingers into her ears.

"LA-LA-LA! Me no speaking yous langrage! I from far aray rand of Amelica!"

Daisuke nearly chuckled at Mio's horrible slaughter of the English language. Maybe Middle School Daisuke would've been confused out of his mind, quite tilting his head to the side in exaggerated wonder, but High School Daisuke who had taken English classes at cram school understood perfectly.

And so, he unceremoniously dumped the blonde girl onto sidewalk and watched, grinning as a string of obscenities left her mouth.

He walked almost a block before Mio finally managed to catch up with him.

"...ha...stupid...Daisuke...ditching...me...gahh"

Silence wafted through the air, surrounding the students as they walked on. Though one had a longer stride, the other was faster in pace and almost matched the taller one evenly. As steps increased, the edge of a building let a burst of blinding whiteness that could've only come from the closest worldly star stun the two.

But the words that left Mio's mouth had more of an effect than the sun.

"You. You like him, don't you?"

Daisuke didn't bother feigning ignorance or confusion. They had been friends too long for that childish method.

The answer was almost immediate, but there was a pause. Maybe there always had been.

"I don't know," he answered quietly. The emotion barely withheld in the scarlet eyes sang a similar melody, only with a flash of something else.

Mio stared uncertainly at her redheaded friend and sighed heavily.

"FALCON PUNCH!**(1)** TCHA!"

"WAHHHHHHHH!"

Flailing limbs filled the air before Daisuke landed painfully on the sidewalk. He moaned, rubbing his sore arm. A sharply placed kick followed suit, landing on Daisuke's stomach. Then another. And another.

For the second time in his life, the first being an incident where he had accidentally given Riku's lunch to stray dog (how the hell was he supposed to know she liked to save lunch for after school?) Daisuke Niwa found himself getting beat up by a girl. Something was very, _very _wrong with this picture, and it didn't take a genius such as Satoshi Hiwatari to figure it out.

-Somewhere in a hotel room-

Satoshi sneezed, unceremoniously spraying the golden-haired male next to him with water, saliva, and quite possibly, germs.

"Ew! Gross! Don't tell me you're sick!" shrieked the blonde, hyperventilating hysterically. "Oh god oh god oh GOD. Do you have STDs? Shit! We should've taken a test! Damn!!"

He began wailing louder as if screaming at the top of his lungs wasn't enough. "No!! I don't want to die young! Satoshi, please tell me you're clean! Clean as... a virgin! Wait no. What if the virgin's parents had STD's and gave it to their kid. No. Nonononono. No!!!! N-"

The blonde's words were effectively silenced as a pair of lips clamped themselves over his own.

He blinked, feline-like eyes widening at the sight of Satoshi's tongue slowly licking his lips.

"Relax. I think I'm just a little too popular." Satoshi grinned (evilly) at the pale figure's outraged expression. Attempting to look pensive, he slyly added, "Maybe I should take up some of those girl's offers. I just might get to sit back and enjoy the ride."

With a deep growl, the blonde jumped atop the boy in retaliation and began taking his revenge.

-Back on the sidewalk-

Scarlet eyes suddenly hardened, blazing with a strange sort of determination. Seething, Daisuke grabbed a swinging fist and pulled, knocking Mio off balance.

"Mio. What. Was. That. For?" he growled, grounding out each word. Fingers roamed, gently caressing the already forming bruises that adorned his stomach.

He sniffed, evidently miffed. At least Mio had aimed at places where it would be easy to hide. Being beaten up by a girl didn't exactly help his reputation.

Mio merely smiled, something akin to amusement clouding her expression for a moment until it was quickly replaced by a grin.

"You fought back right?"

Daisuke nodded bemusedly. Where was she trying to get to?

Mio poked the redhead in the cheek, smirking as her finger encountered soft skin before reaching hard muscle.

"So you're not afraid if hitting a girl or getting beat up, but you're afraid of admitting you like someone?"

Outraged, Daisuke grumbled, "I'm not a coward."

"But you sure act like one."

A pregnant pause went by until, "I hate you."

"Love you too Daisuke!"

"..."

"What? In America, people say I love you to each other all the time!"

Daisuke stared in disbelief at the grinning blonde who raised a glittering thumb.

"Oh, and before I forget..." Mio trailed off and began rummaging her backpack. She grinned and tossed it over her shoulders.

With a loud "_oof", _Daisuke was knocked back, eventually sliding to a stop after a few inches.

Recognizing the object ruby eyes grew, rivaling those of a tennis ball, and he shouted incredulously, "No way! This is..."

Mio nodded her head and smiled triumphantly. "Yes way. I can assure you this is one hundred percent genuine."

"Awesome! Thank you so much! Thank you!!" he hollered. "I promise to return it to you on Monday!"

Mio grinned, putting two fingers in a victory pose. She watched as he sprinted across the street, nearly crashing into a baby carriage, and apologize before resuming his previous task.

The grin hovered for a few moments before swiftly transitioning to a worried expression. Lips whitened from the pressure of teeth and eyebrows furrowed.

Such an innocent boy should never have to live through that again.

---

"Here! This is for you Dark!" Daisuke exclaimed. He holding out of the folder while bowing, head faced down.

Dark didn't respond. The feelings within him hurt too much to talk. If a single word managed to make it out, he wasn't he could control the rest.

A few seconds slid by before Daisuke lifted his head and gazed at his neighbor.

"Dark? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. He frowned, giving the teenager a quick glance over. Heavy rings circled the violet eyes while a red tinge showed sleepless nights. Dark didn't look like his normal, happy-go-lucky, smirking self. Instead, he seemed haggard, worn and even fragile, like a twig that could snap from the slightest pressure. Even his messy disheveled hair seemed out of place, falling over most of his face.

Daisuke lifted a cool hand and placed it on his own forehead. Then he felt Dark's.

A calm feeling immediately dissolved the exhaustion and Dark found himself swaying. Violet eyes widened and suddenly, he snapped. He pushed the redhead's hand away from him and backed up.

"Go away!"

Daisuke stared as Dark drew in deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

"Dark?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Have you been sleeping for these past few days?"

Dark shook his head and took another step back. "Damn it! I said go away!"

The redhead refused to listen, stubbornly taking steps forward. "Why? Why don't you want me near you Dark?"

Pain shone clearly through his eyes.

"_Fuck off_," Dark growled. He slammed a fist into the wall, breaking through the plaster in a white, powdery explosion. "I don't want you, no one wants you, and no one ever _will._"

Daisuke's smile cracked. He stared, frozen as Dark continued to yell.

"You're useless. You're a horrible mistake that I never should've made. Just fucking leave and die somewhere already!" Dark shouted as he picked up the package and flung it at Daisuke.

It hit the boy on his chest hard, exploding into a whirlwind of flying leaflets.

"GO!" he roared, seething angrily.

"O-okay. I-I'm going to go now. See you." Daisuke said, a ghost of a smile still etched on his face. He turned around and took off. Before the last paper had fluttered to the ground, the redhead's light footsteps against the cement could no longer be heard from Dark's room.

Dark gazed at the open door and loose papers that covered the floor. He pulled himself up and shook his head, feeling slightly dazed.

The words on the papers caught his eyes and Dark bent down to read them.

Make-up work for every day he had been gone. Detailed notes. Even hints on what would be good for studying on the test. All painstakingly written in Daisuke's curvy handwriting.

Then, he noticed a purple post-it note.

_Thanks for everything Dark! _

_Love, Daisuke._

Love.

Dark slid to the ground, grabbing his head.

The simple-minded idiot loved him.

---

Daisuke was beyond the point of hurt. Tears kept streaming from his eyes and he couldn't stop running. No matter what, his legs refused to quit working. So he ran, not knowing where to go.

He ran past the fountain in the middle of the plaza.

He ran past the school, ignoring the familiar, concerned cries from those who recognized him.

He ran past the convenience store that sat ten blocks from his house.

And he ran until his legs gave out, quivering pain.

Daisuke tripped, landing in the middle of someone's yard.

Violet sobs wracked his thins frame as he sat, too tired to move. This physical pain was nothing, _nothing_ compared to Dark's biting words.

Daisuke had trusted him! He had worn his heart on his sleeve, allowing only one feeling to enter his heart.

He began crying even harder, unable to stop shaking.

Dark absolutely hated him. Besides, how could anyone ever like a quiet, weird short kid? It was just like back th-

Daisuke shook his head. He scrambled to his feet, wincing as searing pain ate his legs.

Never again. The promise made long ago had been broken, and the only thing he had ended up with was pain. This time, Daisuke wouldn't get hurt.

Slow, tears still stung his eyes as he pulled himself towards home. Daisuke attempted to walk slowly, trying to keep the pain to a bare minimum. However, uneasiness ate at his stomach. Following his gut feeling, Daisuke walked toward a closed store and stared at the mirrored windows.

A black van was creeping silently behind him no more than twenty feet away.

Daisuke began to panic, but quickly shut a lid on the emotion. No. Maybe they were headed in the same direction?

He took a right turn, immediately noticing that the van also took a right turn. Then he stopped and made another turn.

The vehicle did the same.

He broke into a sprint and ran, feeling his heart furiously pump.

Wide eyes turned around and quickly faced back as the car began speeding up. It raced ahead of Daisuke, cutting him off in mid-stride. The backseats flung open and two tall, strong-built men jumped out. He quickly spun around, gravel and loose rocks grinding against his shoes as he pushed off. However, the momentum he had lost cost him dearly and the Daisuke felt the kidnappers hot on his heels, panting on his back with heavy breaths.

_Work! C'mon legs! _he screamed in his head, trying to ignore the burning sensation. _Please just run!_

A loud, audible clicking sound echoed from behind Daisuke and somehow, his legs moved even faster. But his two assailants were prepared. They threw a rope across him and pulled.

_No. This can't be happening. NO!_

Daisuke punched at the men, aiming a well-placed blow at one man's stomach. As one of them seized his wrist, Daisuke twisted his own sharply, freeing himself from the strong grip. Then he grabbed the man's thumb and bent it back. There was a horrible breaking sound that seemed much too loud from one digit before the man screamed. **(2)**

But Daisuke hadn't calculated a third captor.

He was thrown into the van, a loud crack coming from his head. Something warm and wet immediately began to drip from his face and into his eyes.

As Daisuke's hands were being tied, he used all the power left in his legs and kicked the door open.

He opened his mouth and in a bloodcurdling voice, screamed. He screamed a single syllable until a sharp blow to his head rendered him unconscious.

He screamed for Dark.

* * *

Eep. Crappy chapter and cliffhanger. **Reviews**? Haha

**(1)** A falcon punch is where the attacker tries to hit the target as hard as fucking possible - hopefully dislodging several vital organs along the way. One of my friends also said it was used to abort pregnancy. WTF?  
**(2)** Just took self-defense unit. This is entirely possible. xD Nearly broke my friends thumb while practicing?

**A/N:** To reinspire myself, I was reading the first chapter and well, I just realized how melodramatic I was as a freshman. Man, I'd love to meet my freshie self.  
**Freshman Mayu:** OMG! POKETRAINER DAISUKE HAS JUST RELEASED DARK. H-hey wtf…DARK IS TAKING OFF HIS CLOTHES. IS THIS A SEDUCTION ATTACK?  
**Sophomore Mayu**: Uh no. It's called Daisuke and Dark are getting it on. See? That right there is called _penetration_.  
**FM:** HOLY SHIT. *FAINTS* *NOSEBLEEDS* KYAHHHHHH!!  
**SM:** "…" I'm just…going to go now.

-_- So I'm going to keep this chapter almost exactly the way I wrote it…a year ago, but the next chapter will have a bit of a writing style change. Still witty, as usual /coughs/ but more poetic?

Anyways, onto my lameass excuse. Sophomore year is fucking me in the ass. And as appealing as the thought sounds (replaced sophomore year with Dark and me with Daisuke), it's hell. My school's pretty serious, like ranked 40th in the nation. Crazy, crazy. Gotta' pull through with my chem grade.


End file.
